Trying To Move Forward
by Yveltios
Summary: Trying to do the right thing by everyone is impossible. Whenever you try, it either ends with yourself getting harmed or killed. If not you, then it's someone you care for who got caught up in your problems. Isaac is just trying to find sanctuary in a community known as Wellington. Everything in this story is made by Telltale, except for my character(s).
1. Chapter 1

It was cold and wet from the rain last night within a forest somewhere in Ohio. The stench of decay wasn't as bad, the rain probably helped with that. Isaac used to track herds with his mother when they were in a group almost a year ago, back in Texas. So he knew there was always going to be walkers close by. Maybe around 20 per area on a good day.

Isaac is a twelve-year-old, white male with dark brown hair that is long enough to reach the top of his shoulders. His mom routinely cut it short for him before she died a couple weeks ago.

He is 4'11 in height and skinny enough that his rib cage was showing a little due to always not having enough food. His dark blue eyes shifted to either side of him every few minutes. One must always be cautious when traveling alone, especially during these dark times.

Isaac, always prepared, had a wooden bow drawn. It's the only weapon he has that's quiet (other than his hunting knife) and has a long range. After he and his mom left Texas behind to head north, Isaac's mom gave it to him, and she taught him how to use it over the eight months they traveled. At this point, Isaac only had two arrows left to use, so he had to make sure to only use them if he had no other choice.

The only clothing he owned was a black hoodie, brown jeans, and dark blue sneakers. He also had a red hoodie in his small brown backpack, for emergencies. And a dark blue towel he has used for sleeping.

Isaac kept his footsteps silent as he walked, picking up small sticks to use for a campfire at night. Isaac stared at the bunch of sticks in his hand for a few seconds before shaking his head and stuffing them in his backpack.

Before stuffing his bag, he noticed a folded photo inside. He took it out and examined it. It was a picture of him, his mother and her boyfriend at the time. He was around seven years old at the time and they were all at Disney World for the weekend, if he remembered correctly. Isaac stared at this photo and shed a tear or two before folding it back up and putting it away.

As he swung the pack over his shoulder and picked up his bow, he heard the snarl of an all-too-familiar creature, if you could even call it that anymore. Isaac turned around and glared at the corpse of what used to be a person, crawling towards him since it had only one leg attached to its body.

Isaac approached it as he pulled his knife from his pocket. _"I'd rather see a dead walker than a live one."_ He thought to himself. Isaac used his left foot to kick the walker's head, stunning it for a moment. Isaac took his knife and plunged it into the walker's temple. Destroying its brain and killing it permanently.

He pulled the knife out and wiped it clean on his jeans. Isaac took a look at it and sighed. _"Next time I find running water and soap, I need to clean it."_ He then sheathed it and shoved it back into his pocket.

Isaac started following the trail he was walking on and picking up any sticks along the way until he had to find somewhere to set up camp.

 **XXxxXX**

Isaac checked the position of the sun to see how much time he had before night rolled in. After checking, he figured that it was about time to hunker down for the day. He had been following the trail all day; killing walkers along the way and gathering wood for a campfire.

Ahead of him was a tree that had fallen on the trail, blocking his way. He climbed over it and kept going. He was starting to smell decay again, which either means there is a live walker nearby for the fourth time today or a perma-dead body. Either way was unpleasant to think about unless its right in front of you, so he ignored the smell and kept going until he stopped to read a yellow sign along the way.

It just warns about dangerous animals in the area like bears, coyotes and other things. Isaac hadn't seen any of these animals while hiking though. _"I'm sure they're hiding in their holes or caves. I know I would."_ He then went on for a minute before discovering an open area. The smell was a lot worse here. Isaac looked over to his right and found the source of the smell.

It was the decomposing corpse of a man with a whole sign pole going through its head. Isaac closed his eyes for a moment before stepping away. _"Hopefully, he was already dead."_ He turned his head and saw a wooden cross in the ground, symbolizing a grave. He approached it, bowed his head and closed his eyes. "Whoever you were, may you rest in peace."

At that moment, he heard a small sound from somewhere behind him. Isaac turned within a few seconds and gasped when he saw a little girl who looked to be soaking wet, hugging herself for warmth. The girl looked to be African American with amber-colored eyes that were locked on to Isaac. She was wearing a purple long-sleeved shirt with white stripes on the sleeves, dark blue jeans, and brown sneakers. She also had a white and blue baseball cap with a big letter D on the front.

Isaac quickly took his backpack off and opened it to grab his towel. The girl took a step back since she was scared. Isaac looked up at her as he pulled out his towel. "You're wet and cold. Take this." He then passed it to her. She caught it and immediately wrapped herself in it.

Isaac looked around the area and noticed some kind of broken wooden platform that leads to a running river. "How'd you get there?" He then looked back towards her and noticed that she was still shivering. Isaac then picked up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. "It's getting pretty close to dark. I'll start a fire down there." The girl nodded her head in agreement and followed Isaac back down to the river.

The girl dropped down from the wooden platform first, Isaac doing the same a few seconds later.

 **XXxxXX**

The night came a couple of hours later. Isaac managed to start a fire for the both of them. The girl hadn't spoken yet but stopped shivering as much. Isaac only had one unlabeled can in his pack. After opening it, both children were relieved to find sweet corn inside.

While he was warming the corn up by the fire, he glanced over at the girl who had a small smile on her face for a couple seconds before it transformed into a frown. "So... How'd you get in the river in the first place?" The girl looked up at Isaac for a moment before turning her gaze back to the fire. "My friend and I were attacked this morning. I fell in trying to get away."

"Walkers?" He asked. "Yeah. People too." She responded.

"Dang. I'm sorry." She looked at Isaac and smiled. He then grabbed the can of corn sitting by the fire to check if it was warm enough, which it was. Isaac picked it up and scooted over to the girl. He then handed her the can. "Go ahead." She accepted the can. "Thanks." She then ate half of the corn and handed it back to Isaac, who took it and did the same.

After finishing the corn, he washed the can in the river before stuffing it into his pack. He sat down and they were silent for a few minutes before the girl broke the silence. "What's your name?" Isaac turned his attention from the fire to the girl who was looking at him. "My name's Isaac. What's yours?"

"I'm Clementine." Isaac nodded his head. "That's a cool name."

"Thanks." Clementine then yawned into her hand. Isaac did the same a few seconds later. "I can keep watch first while you rest." Isaac told her. Clementine nodded her head and laid on her side with the towel Isaac lent her used as her blanket. She fell asleep within five minutes. Isaac stared at the fire as he kept his ears open for anything or anyone nearby. _"Hopefully I can keep her safe. I don't want another death on my hands."_

* * *

 **Hello. It may confuse you as to why I deleted my last story and upload this one.**

 **In truth, it confuses me too after I do it, which is weird. I was looking at it while I was trying to rewrite it, but then I realized that I changed a few details without knowing that I do. So I deleted what I was writing previously and started on this one. Hopefully, I don't do the same thing to this one.**

 **I'm sure you're all, or most of you are, confused or ''weirded out'' by my explanation, and I tend to ramble. Like I'm doing now...**

 **So I'm just going to leave it at that. If you have any questions, go ahead and ask. I'll do my best to answer.**

 **G'night, and... I don't know... hope you enjoy the story.**


	2. Chapter 2

**_"Let him go! NOW!" All Isaac could do was attempt to squirm out of the man's hold on him while his mother threatened his abductor with her revolver. The man laughed and tightened his arm, which was keeping the child off the ground as he kept backing up into the woods._**

 ** _The man was a big man with shaggy greying black hair, covering most of his head, wearing a torn up brown jacket over his blue t-shirt. He also had on a pair of dark red sweatpants and black sandals, no socks covering his mud-crusted feet._**

 ** _The man tried to reach behind his pants for a gun, but his arm got grabbed on to while doing so. He dropped Isaac, who landed on his knees. Isaac's mother was about to move towards her son, but she got pulled back at that moment._**

 ** _Isaac was frozen in place as he witnessed his mother's neck being torn out by the jaws of a walker. The man behind him was also being torn apart at the same time, but he didn't care._**

 ** _It took him a few seconds before turning towards where the man was being eaten. Isaac noticed a metal bar on the ground a few feet away. Isaac grabbed the weapon quickly and swung it at the walker that was tearing into his mother. Before he felt the impact of the metal in his hands connecting to its head, everything around him disappeared._**

 **XXxxXX**

The sun rose a couple of hours ago. Clementine volunteered to keep watch in the middle of the night so Isaac could get some sleep as well. It was quiet all night, which was a rare event since it's never quiet at night. She turned her head and noticed that Isaac was waking up. He sat up from laying on his back and yawned while stretching his arms. "Morning, Isaac." Clem told him.

Isaac looked towards her and nodded his head once in response. Isaac got to his feet and went over to his backpack and bow, which he had laid out by the river. He picked up his pack and opened it. "You sticking around?" Isaac asked.

"I don't have anywhere else to go." She responded. Isaac nodded and pulled the red hoodie he had in his bag and tossed it to her. Clementine caught it and looked at Isaac. "I wasn't about to let you get cold again." He said, zipping up his backpack and putting it on.

Clementine smiled and put it on, over her now-dry shirt while Isaac picked his bow up from the ground. His arrows were sticking out the back pocket in case he needed to draw his weapon quickly.

Isaac approached Clementine as she finished putting the clothing on. "I was on my way north. trying to find a community that's supposed to be safe. Y'know what I'm about?" She nodded her head in response. "Wellington?"

"Yeah, Wellington." Isaac said. He and Clementine approached the wooden structure. Isaac threw his bag and weapon up before he jumped up to the top. He then laid on his stomach as he reached down to help Clementine up.

Clementine was pulled up and Isaac started going down the same trail he came from since he passed a fork that went the opposite way he was headed. Isaac was a couple feet in front of Clementine, holding his bow in his right hand while he lent her his knife, which she kept sheathed in her pocket.

After they both went over the tree, Isaac decided to speak. "Where were you when everything... started..?" Clem wore a saddened expression as she thought back. "In my house. Back in Georgia." She then glanced over at Isaac. "What about you. Where are you from?"

Isaac took the right side of the fork on the trail as she asked him that. "I'm actually from here. From Ohio, but when it all started, me and my mom were visiting family in Texas." They continued forward in silence for a couple minutes after that.

Isaac was about to ask another question but stopped when both of them heard rustling from some bushes nearby. "Walker?" Clementine whispered. "It definitely smells like it. Get the knife ready, just in case." He quietly told her. She unsheathed the knife and gripped it in her right hand.

She started to go forward, but Isaac gripped her shoulder to stop her. "Let me go first." He reached back and pulled out an arrow. Clementine nodded and followed Isaac closely.

When they got closer, Isaac put the arrow on the bow, ready to aim. Then, before they knew what was happening, a brown-haired dog tackled Isaac to the ground, biting down into his arm. Isaac screamed in pain and tried to pull his arm away, but the dog was latched on tight.

Before Isaac could figure out how to beat the dog off of him, Clementine stabbed the dog in the neck, killing it. Isaac pulled the canine's teeth out of his arm quickly, which made the pain worse in his arm. "Ohhhh.. my- son of a- auggh!" Isaac stared at the deep wound for a moment before looking towards Clementine, who looked terrified and guilty at the same time, bloody knife discarded on the ground.

"Clem.." She shook her head, picked the knife up and looked over at Isaac's arm. "We need to keep going." Isaac nodded and went to pick up his bow and arrow, but Clementine beat him to it. "I'll put them in your bag." Before he could reply, Clementine stuffed his bow and arrow into his backpack. She then went to his side. "Put your arm around me."

Isaac complied and put his uninjured right arm over her shoulders. He and Clem kept going down the trail, hoping to find something to help Isaac's arm from getting infected.

A couple of minutes later, Isaac's head started to get dizzy and his vision was getting blurry. Clementine was struggling to carry him a little bit since she was a little bit smaller than Isaac, but kept a steady pace forward.

After a few minutes, Clementine stopped walking so she could catch her breath, setting Isaac against a rock nearby. Clementine went to sit next to Isaac. After a few moments of silence, Clementine glanced over at Isaac and saw that he was obviously struggling to keep himself conscious.

Clementine got to her feet and picked Isaac back up. She then heard some snarling and gurgling from somewhere behind her. She didn't need to turn around to find out what it was since the stench of rotting flesh in the air made it quite obvious to what it was.

"Not now..." She muttered, trying to go as fast as she could while supporting Isaac, who was doing his best to do the same. They kept going until one of the walkers were right behind them. Isaac shoved Clementine away and turned around just as the walker fell on top of him, trying to take a chunk out of him. Isaac kept it away with his hands for a couple of seconds before Clementine stabbed it through its temple with the knife.

Isaac looked up at her and noticed another walker a few feet behind her. "Behind you!" Isaac shouted. She turned around and saw the corpse, and gasped. Just as it was about to be right on top of her, an arrow went through its skull from behind and it fell forwards, almost taking her down with it.

Clementine saw two men. One with a small crossbow, and the other one with a machete.

The one with a crossbow was obviously older than the other, with a black goatee and a shaved head of hair. The man was wearing a dark green jacket and tan jeans.

The other guy looked like he was in his mid-twenties with medium length brown hair and a little bit of facial hair. He was wearing an orange sweater and brown jeans.

The older male turned towards the younger one. "I'm out! Grab the kid and let's go!" The younger man nodded and quickly picked Isaac up off the ground, leaving the backpack on the ground. Clementine picked up the backpack and swung it over her back before running after the two men who were carrying Isaac.

 **XXxxXX**

The two men and Clementine kept running for about ten minutes now. As soon as they stopped, Clementine began breathing heavily while keeping herself on her feet. The older man looked back into the direction they came from, the other man doing the same. "I think we're safe." The older man said. The other man nodded his head. "Yeah... yeah, we're good."

The older man looked down at Clementine who was staring at him cautiously. "We ain't going to hurt you or your friend." Isaac was still awake at this point, hissing in pain his wound was rubbing up against the younger man's torso. The man carrying Isaac looked down at the child in his arms. "You alright, kid?" Isaac nodded his head. "Maybe let me walk?" Isaac asked. The young man shook his head. "Last I saw, you could barely keep yourself up. Even with your friend's help."

They all started walking forwards, Clementine on the far right, next to the man carrying Isaac and the older man on the left. The older man turned his head to look at Isaac, who had his eyes closed. The man then turned his attention towards Clementine who was keeping an eye on Isaac as they walked. "What're you two doing out here anyway?" The older male asked Clementine.

The other man looked down at Isaac, whose eyes were now open, staring at him. "Where are the uh... the people you're with?" The younger man asked. "There's no way you two made it this long on your own." He added.

"We got attacked yesterday. We're the only ones left." Isaac answered. Clementine nodded her head. "They probably just wanted some food. We were cooking some sort of weasel." She added.

"They attacked you for a weasel...? Damn. That is low." The younger man commented.

"They didn't mention any names, right...? They weren't searching for anybody?" The man in orange asked. The older man glanced over to Isaac for a couple seconds before focusing on where they were going. They were all silent as they kept walking.

"Well... I'm Luke." The man in orange stated and then turned his head towards his friend. "And this is Pete." Pete kept his eyes forward and smiled. "Heya."

"Hi. I'm Clementine." She responded, smiling as well. "And I'm Isaac." Luke looked down at Isaac with a smile on his face. "Well, it's nice to meet you two. For now, we're gonna take y'all back to our group, okay?" Luke said. "We got a doctor with us and you look like you could use some-" Luke then noticed that Isaac's arm had a bite wound. "OH SHIT!" He yelled as he dropped Isaac.

Isaac landed on his injured arm and gripped it as he sat up. "Ugh..." He groaned. Clementine went up to Isaac.

Pete approached from behind Luke. "What the hell happened?"

"He's been bit, man. FUCK! Fuck fuck fuck..." Luke started pacing back and forth. Pete looked down at Isaac, whose arm was being examined by Clementine. Pete saw the wound and his face showed a little bit of anger. Luke stopped pacing and turned to Pete who was still staring at the wound from a distance. "What're we gonna do here?" Luke said to Pete.

"No! It was a dog!" Clementine told them.

"I didn't see any dog, Clementine." Pete responded, crossing his arms over his chest.

Luke stood there with his arms crossed over his chest as well. "Come on, kid. We just saw you two with those lurkers back there." Luke pointed out. Pete looked over at Luke. "I can't remember the last time I saw a dog." He said. Luke shut his eyes for a moment before opening them again. "What do we do then?"

"You can see it from there. It's a dog. I SWEAR!" Isaac argued, hissing from the pain. The two men stared at the children for a moment. Isaac kept his gaze on Pete who looked to be thinking about something. Pete uncrossed his arms. "Hrrmm... all right." Luke then glanced over at Pete. "Let's see it."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, watch yourself." Luke said. Clementine then made a face at Luke. "Hey, don't look at me like that! Your friend's the one that's bit here, okay?" He said before turning away.

Pete knelt down and gently took the arm into his hand to examine it. Isaac shut his eyes tightly for a second before looking at Pete. "You can tell the difference, right?" Pete kept examing the arm. "It's pretty hard to tell, to be honest with ya." Pete then got to his feet and walked over to Luke.

Isaac got to his feet as well, but almost lost his balance. So Clementine opted to supporting him by his arm. Pete and Luke went up ahead while the children slowly followed behind.

The two men stopped when they saw a cabin a bit further ahead and turned around to check on the kids. "You okay there?" Luke asked Isaac, noticing that the boy barely had his eyes open once again. "What... what do you... think?" Isaac answered, doing his best to keep himself conscious.

"Well I'm not gonna carry you with that bite on your arm." Luke told him. Isaac glared at him for a moment before everything went dark around him as he passed out.

Pete glanced over to Luke. "Mind reconsidering?" Luke turned to glare at Pete for a moment before sighing and agreeing to carry Isaac the rest of the way.


	3. Chapter 3

Isaac didn't remember what happened after he passed out. The last things he saw was what looked like a cabin up ahead and Luke telling him not to fall out. Yeah - like he could do anything about that.

When he awoke, the first thing he noticed was a plank of wood on the ground. Behind that was some sort of workbench attached to the wall. It was folded out like it was being used.

Isaac, once again, gripped his arm as he got to his feet to look around. As he scanned his surroundings, he concluded that he was in an almost emptied tool shed. There were a couple of barrels in one of the far corners of the room with random planks of wood sticking out of them.

A counter to his right side remained with only a cement brick on it. Isaac squeezed his forehead with his hand as he felt a lingering headache. _"At least I'm not dead."_ He thought to himself, sitting back down against the wall, massaging his head.

After a few minutes of silence, he turned his head and noticed his backpack, laid out next to the door of the shed, the contents scattered around. He went over to his stuff, making sure nothing of his was missing. Isaac sighed in relief after realizing nothing of his was taken.

His wooden bow was off to the right end with his arrows set next to it. He saw that one of his arrows was snapped in half while the other was still in one piece. _"I REALLY need to get more arrows."_

The blue towel he leant to Clementine was spread out on the ground with a couple of items on it. The first thing he noted was a manual can opener he kept around ever since his time in Texas. It was red in color with the initials KT written on it. He remembered someone his mom told him that he did not remember much of since the last time he saw them was when he was only around a year old. Isaac sighed to himself. "Hopefully she's alright..." Isaac muttered under his breath, taking the item and stuffing it into the front pouch of his pack.

The child then gazed upon the other object on the towel and tightly shut his eyes, trying his best not to cry. It was a simple silver cross necklace. Isaac was sad since it was his mom's necklace. She wore it until the day she died. Isaac picked up the necklace and just stared at it.

While he was lost in thought, Clementine shimmied through the hole she uncovered in the other back corner. She snuck into the cabin to obtain a needle and thread, but could only get the needle. She also grabbed a bottle of peroxide and some cloth to wrap his arm when she finished stitching it. Christa taught her how a few months ago, but she wasn't, by any means, a professional. She couldn't even find any thread to use, but she saw some rolled up fishing line while poking around.

As she got to her feet, she turned her head and noticed that Isaac was awake, holding a silver necklace out in front of him. "Isaac?" She called out silently. Isaac didn't turn around as he spoke. "I don't see anything missing... So..." Isaac took the necklace he was holding and latched it around his neck before turning around to face Clementine. "Thanks." He said.

Isaac then noticed the bottle sticking out of her left pocket. "What's that?" Isaac asked, pointing at the bottle. Clementine stared at him for a moment before pulling it out, revealing the label that had the word peroxide in big bold letters. Isaac thought about it for a second before he asked her another question. "Are you going to sew my arm up?"

Clementine nodded her head, pulling out some rolled up cloth from her back pocket. Unwrapping it revealed the tiny needle that she as going to use. Isaac sighed, turned around and knelt down to the ground to put his stuff away. He then went over to the counter that Clementine had set the stolen supplies on and his face grimaced at the thought of how painful this was going to be. He had seen his mother sew people up multiple times back in Texas. He wasn't looking forward to this at all.

Clementine looked at Isaac as he slightly glared at the bottle of peroxide. "Set your arm down so we can get this over with." She said. Isaac complied and set his arm on the counter. He rolled up his sleeve, uncovering the wound.

The girl glanced at the wound as she opened the bottle. "This'll hurt." She told Isaac, who responded with a nod of his head. "You can do this... you can do this..." Isaac told himself under his breath as he stared down at his arm.

Clementine stopped for a moment and then poured the disinfectant onto Isaac's arm. Isaac hissed at the skyrocketing pain he felt, keeping his arm held down with his other hand. Clementine quickly pulled the bottle away and twisted the lid on. She then pushed an end of the fishing line through the hole of the needle and tied it on. She then looked at Isaac, who stared at the needle she held in fear. "Stay still, or it'll hurt worse."

He nodded his head and stared at his arm as she was about to push the needle through his skin.

She then started, quickly pushing it through the skin for the first stitch. Isaac yelled out for a few seconds before quieting down. He didn't have any time to say anything as she kept going. She continued until she got the last stitch in place and Isaac was crying during and after she was done.

Afterward, Clementine took the cloth and wrapped it around his arm. Isaac was keeping his attention off his arm as he stared at the corner where the hole was. The little girl finished wrapping Isaac's arm up and looked at his face. She was about to ask how he was feeling but he pulled his arm away suddenly.

At that moment, she was then pulled away from the walker that was halfway through the hole that she used to get out. He let go of her arm and pointed to a leaf rake that was under the counter. "Get that!" Isaac told her.

Without saying anything else, she grabbed the tool and picked it up. Just then, the walker got through the opening. As it got to its feet, Clementine used the rake to push the walker into the wall, trying to keep the creature pinned against the wall but was losing the battle quickly.

Before it could win, however, Isaac rushed over to it with his knife and stabbed it into the side of its head with it, stopping its movement forever. Clementine dropped the rake and clutched her knees as she was catching her breath. Isaac pulled his knife out of the corpse's head and stared at the body while catching his breath as well.

Isaac and Clementine turned their heads towards the doors as they were suddenly opened by Luke. Isaac noticed Pete and a bunch of other people running up behind him but didn't care since he was angry with Luke at the moment.

Luke didn't notice as he stared at the corpse with a hole in its head, laying next to the boy. "Holy shit...!" He muttered.

A man, around Luke's age, wearing a brown ball cap, blue shirt and jeans was the first to approach. He looked at the corpse with a glare. "How the hell'd it get in here...?"

The other people approached as well. One was a Hispanic man who looked to be in his early forties. He was wearing a tan plaid shirt and brown jeans - he also had facial hair. There also stood a big and tubby black male wearing a light brown cargo jacket and jeans, an African woman (who was obviously pregnant), and an old man whom Isaac knew was Pete.

The Hispanic man stared at Isaac with an unreadable expression on his face. Pete saw Clementine stand upright after he glanced over at the corpse. "They're tough as nails." Pete commented.

"The shed should've been safe." Luke said. Isaac glared up at the young man as Luke looked back at him. "Safe? Riiight." Isaac said sarcastically. He then walked over to his backpack and picked it up off the ground.

Luke then noticed Isaac's wrapped-up arm. "You got yourself patched up...?"

"Where'd you get that?" The other young man cut in.

"Did they STEAL from us!?" The woman shouted.

Pete looked over at Isaac. "That doesn't change a thing. They haven't done anything to us." The woman glared at Pete. "Says the man NOT carrying a baby." Pete glanced over at the woman. "Enough already!" He told her.

Luke turned his head around to look at them both. "Guys, please."

Clementine looked up at the group of people. "I did. I took stuff and I'm sorry. I really am."

After she said this, Isaac put his backpack over his shoulders and kept his gaze on the ground, not saying anything.

The woman glared at Pete once again. "And you think we can trust them...?" Pete then glared back at her. "Goddammit, don't even START! What if it was you and Alvin? Wouldn't you do the same?" The woman then looked away from Pete, not having anything to say to that.

The Hispanic man turned his gaze away from Isaac as he turned around to head back to the cabin. "Bring them in and I'll take a look at his arm." he said before walking away. The woman followed soon after with the black male behind her. Pete and Nick decided to follow them as well.

Clementine walked ahead of Isaac. He was about to follow but stopped after Luke spoke to him. "You hungry...?" Isaac didn't look up as he kept walking. Luke sighed and followed a few seconds after.

 **XXxxXX**

The static of a hand radio can be heard as it was turned on by a young woman. Her skin was white, almost pale in color. She had long brown hair and sharp brown eyes. Her clothing consisted of a dark green jacket that had the sleeves torn off, showing a white, long-sleeved shirt. She wore dark blue jeans and black sneakers with it.

She held down the button on the radio she was using and spoke into it. "Anything?" She said in a bored tone-of-voice.

The radio responded with a deep, gravely voice. "We're close. I know we are." The woman sighed for a moment before responding. "You said that yesterday. And the day before that."

"Because I know for a FACT that we're close!" She didn't respond to that, so the voice spoke again. "I hope you're not slacking off in my place."

"Of course not. I don't like disappointing you, father." She responded, showing slight fear on her face. "Heh. Good."

"I'll radio in when something happens. Keep the radio close by." After that, the connection was cut off from the other end. The woman was sitting in a leather armchair that was pulled to a desk in her father's office. She set the radio on the desk and massaged her forehead. _"I swear; he's going to be the death of me!"_ She thought to herself.

The woman let out a deep sigh and sat in silence for half a minute. She put her hand into her chest pocket and pulled out a folded photo. She unfolded it to see a picture of herself when she was thirteen, cradling a baby boy in her arms with her mom and dad, kneeling down on either side of her.

She smiled at the photo, especially when she laid eyes on the infant. _"Gotta have hope, right?"_ Her radio went off once again, startling her for a moment before she spoke into it again. "Already? Hopefully, it's not a false alarm this time?" The same gravely voice returned, obviously annoyed this time. "Shut it, Kaitlynn. We located them."

"Really?" She drawled, not believing him. Her father ignored her response and spoke into the radio once more. "Looks like they captured two children." Kaitlynn sat up in the chair she was sitting in. "Anything about those kids you can tell me?"

"Well, one's a boy and the other's a girl. I don't know who the girl is..., but the other one... Can't say for sure." This got Kaitlynn thinking. "Do you think..." She trailed off, knowing that he might have the same thought in his mind. "Tomorrow I'll get a closer look. But don't get your hopes up." She then sat back in the chair, staring at the photo that she was still holding in one hand, the radio in the other.

"I'll update ya when I can. Keep in touch." Her father told her before the radio cut off once again. Kaitlynn got to her feet and walked over to the door to the stairs. _"Gotta stay focused till they get back."_ She then left office and closed the door behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

Isaac sat in a chair at the end of the dining room table. The Hispanic man (whose name was Carlos) was examining Isaac's sewed-up arm. Clementine sat at the other end of the table, holding her head up with her hands while watching them. Luke and the other young man were in the room as well. Luke kept pacing back and forth, worried while the other guy (who was named Nick) was leaning up against the wall with his thumb under his lip.

Isaac glanced over at Nick, not understanding why the man looked so worried. Nick noticed from the corner of his eye and turned his head away. The boy closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again when Carlos told him "This might hurt a little." The doctor then applied a bit of pressure on the wound. "Ow!" The little boy said quietly.

Luke stopped pacing and turned his attention towards Carlos. "How's he look...?" he asked. The doctor started wrapping the arm up with a bandage. "Her suturing skills need some work, but otherwise I'd say he should be fine." he replied. When he finished bandaging the arm, Carlos got up from the chair he was sitting on and approached Luke.

"So it wasn't a lurker bite?" Luke asked, concerned. Carlos shook his head. "If it was, the fever would've already set in and his temperature would be through the roof." As soon as Carlos finished his sentence, Nick hurried out of the room. Luke followed after him. The doctor walked over to the sink and started washing his hands.

Isaac looked over at Carlos with a small smile. "Thank you for taking a look." the little boy told Carlos. "Your welcome. But I don't appreciate what your friend did." he replied as he turned off the sink. Isaac stared at him confusedly. "What do you mean?"

Carlos turned around and crossed his arms over his chest. "Your friend snuck in and persuaded MY daughter to give her supplies." he told Isaac. The small boy crossed his arm over his chest as well. "It wouldn't be like that if you just helped us out in the first place." Carlos was silent for a moment before uncrossing his arms. "You and your friend were considered a threat; which is why we locked you two up in the first place. Maybe you still are." he told Isaac.

Isaac sat there in silence as he stared at Carlos, uncrossing his own arms and setting his bandage one on the table while the other fell to his side. Carlos sighed as he stood there. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but there are a few things you two need to know about my daughter." Clementine and Isaac nodded their heads.

"She isn't like you. You may not get that initially, but once you're around her for a while you'll understand." The doctor stared at Clementine for a few seconds before turning towards the window over the sink, crossing his arms once again. "If she knew how bad the world is... what it's really like out there... she would... cease to function." Isaac shut his eyes while Carlos continued. "She's my little girl. She's all I have left-" The doctor then turned around to stare at them. "and I ask that you both stay away from her."

Clementine looked up at Carlos and frowned. "I'm sorry. I didn't know." she said. Carlos started to walk over to the door leading to the main room. "It's okay. You're forgiven. Just don't make any more mistakes." When Carlos approached the door, he turned his head to look at Isaac, who looked away from Carlos.

Without saying any more, he exited the room. At that moment, Luke came in with two plastic bowls of oatmeal. He glanced over at Isaac for a moment before speaking. "Hey, uh... brought y'all some food if you're hungry. Both children looked up at Luke and smiled before grabbing the bowls and sitting back down at the table. Isaac took a seat at one side of the table, next to Clementine while Luke sat at the opposite side.

Clementine started eating without stopping to take a breath while Isaac took a few bites before staring down at the food. Luke noticed Isaac's hesitance to eat, but said nothing about it. He instead glanced at the child's bandaged arm. "That's gonna leave one helluva scar." Luke commented in an attempt to lighten the mood. Isaac looked up at Luke and shrugged his shoulders. "Doesn't really bother me too much." Luke didn't reply as Isaac took another bite of the food in front of him.

A few moments later, Clementine looked over at the door as Nick closed it behind him with a look of regret on his face. She looked away to take another bite as Isaac turned his head to see Nick staring at him. Isaac smiled before greeting him. "Hey." Nick smiled back for a moment before walking over to Isaac. "Hey, look. Um, I just wanted to say sorry for... well...-" Nick rubbed the back of his head while looking away "-for being a dick out there." He then looked back at Isaac who was staring at the food in front of him.

"I'm not mad at you. I'm sure it was an accident." Isaac said to Nick. The little boy looked up at Nick. "Hopefully, something like that doesn't happen again." Nick stared down at Isaac for a moment before looking away again. "Yeah. Thanks." Before anything else could be said, Nick walked out of the room.

Isaac turned his attention back towards the food in front of him and started eating once again. Luke watched the children as they ate in silence for a minute before speaking again. "So since it's just the two of you... what's your plan?" he asked. Isaac looked over at Clementine who was staring at Luke.

"Maybe we should stay for now until we figure that out." Clementine said. Isaac nodded his head in agreement. Luke smiled. "Well, you're both welcome to stay as long as you need." Luke told them.

Clementine thought to herself for a moment. "Do you think everyone else would be okay with it?" She asked. Luke kept his smile on his face. "They'll just have to deal with it."

Luke's smile disappeared in a second. "So... what happened to your parents...?" Clementine looked up at Luke while Isaac opted to taking another bite of his food. "If you don't mind me asking." The little girl looked down at the table. "I mean, I assume what happened to them is what happened to just about everyone's parents."

Luke stared at Isaac who just took the last bite of his food. "You two are just so young... didn't think you could've made it for so long on your own, but maybe you did."

"Other people took care of me, if that's what you're asking." Clementine answered. Luke looked over at the girl. "I was just curious on how you made it this far." Isaac shook his head. "Guess we're different on that front." Isaac commented. Clementine stared down at the table once again. "I just tried to stay with good people and not do anything dumb." she added.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I... I shouldn't have asked." Luke said. Clementine thought for a moment before speaking again. "My parents went on vacation and left me with a babysitter and they never came back. We went to Savannah to find them... but they were already dead." Luke stared at her. "Wow... I'm sorry to hear that." he commented. Isaac continued to stare at her. _"Sounds like she's had a worse time than I did."_ he thought to himself.

Clementine didn't move as she kept going with her story. "This man found me and took care of me. We met up with other survivors and we all tried to make it, but... it didn't work." she went silent for a moment before she continued. "His name was Lee. He taught me how to survive. He's the reason I keep my hair short."

"What, happened to him?" Luke asked. Clementine closed her eyes for a couple seconds before answering. "The same thing that happens to everyone. But he saved me, first. Lots of times."

"Well sounds like he was a real good guy." Luke commented. Clementine let out a small smile. "Yeah. He was." she replied. They all sat there in silence after that. Luke turned his attention towards Isaac who was staring down at the table with a saddened expression. Before Luke could ask Isaac about what happened to him, Pete walked in from the main room.

"I hate to interrupt, but I'm out there standing watch and I can't help but notice this place is lit up like a goddamn beacon in the middle of the woods." Pete told them. Luke glanced over at Isaac for a moment before getting to his feet. "Yeah, it's time to turn in anyways." Luke said to the kids.

Pete walked past Luke to put out some of the candles. "Get your winks while you can 'cause we're goin' fishing at first light." He stopped walking. "A couple fresh brookies for dinner? Mm. Wouldn't that be nice." The old man noticed Isaac looking up at him and smiled. Luke then walked out of the room. Pete stood there and exchanged smiles with the kids before following Luke a few seconds later.

Clementine had to finish eating, so she stayed at the table. She took a couple bites before noticing that Isaac was still next to her, staring at the table with a neutral expression. Before she could ask him why he was still here, the black woman opened the door and glared at them. "Oh. You're still here." Isaac looked up at the woman and sent her an annoyed glare of his own before looking away while Clementine went back to finishing her food.

When she took her last bite, the woman started to speak to them again. "I wouldn't get comfortable if I were you." Isaac got to his feet and looked over at Clementine. They both said nothing as they stared at each other for a couple seconds. Clementine nodded and got to her feet as well, following Isaac into the main room where the couches were.

The woman scoffed to herself before washing her hands in the sink.


	5. Chapter 5

**The world came crashing down within a few days. Isaac was nine years old at this point and he was cradling his infant cousin in his arms while his mom drove their dark blue family van on the interstate. Next to her was his grandpa who has been silent ever since the attack that happened earlier that day.**

 **Isaac and his mom arrived in Fredericksburg, Texas a few days ago to congratulate Casey on her first child. Most of the family showed up from around the country to celebrate. Isaac's grandparents were present, along with his uncle who was the oldest sibling of the three.**

 **They all went to a church in town after spending a few days in Casey's house. What they found there was horrifying! There were around five bodies just outside the building. Isaac was tasked with staying in the van to watch his baby cousin while all the adults went in to search for any survivors.**

 **Not even a minute later, there were multiple screams coming from inside the church. The people that went in were Isaac's mother (Kay), his uncle David, aunt Casey and her husband Thomas, and his grandparents Brodan and Chloe.**

 **When they ran out of the building, it was only his mom and grandfather who came out. She was practically dragging Brodan by his arm towards the van. She pushed the old man into the car and quickly drove away from the building.**

 **Isaac kept asking what happened back there, but both adults didn't say a word. After a few hours of silence, the baby woke up from her nap and started crying. Brodan seemed to break out of his trance as he heard the baby. He turned around to face Isaac and forced a smile onto his face. "Mind if I hold her?" he asked his grandson.**

 **The boy, still oblivious to what was going on, smiled and handed the baby over to him. As soon as he took the baby, she seemed to get even more distressed. Brodan looked out the window and saw a sign that said that there was a rest stop in a couple of miles. He looked over at his daughter who was keeping her eyes focused on the road with a distant expression on her face.**

 **"Honey... Do we have any diapers?" he asked. Kay nodded her head slightly at the question, not willing to speak at the moment. Brodan nodded his head and turned his attention towards the road. "We'll have to park at the rest stop up ahead and figure things out from there." he told her. Kay tightened her grip on the steering wheel. "Yeah..." she responded as she saw the small building become visible up ahead.**

 **XXxxXX**

Isaac was just laying on the ground with a pillow under his head, staring blankly at the ceiling above him. He didn't have any way to tell what time it was, but he assumed it to be around five or six in the morning since the sun hadn't risen yet. Isaac let Clementine sleep on the couch with a blanket they found under the table in the middle of the room.

Clementine wanted Isaac to take the couch while she slept on the floor, but he insisted for her to sleep comfortably. After she told Luke and Isaac what happened to her since the dead rose, Isaac felt bad for her. He felt like she deserved to sleep more comfortably than him.

Isaac heard movement coming from the couch he was laying next to and closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. Clementine stared at Isaac in silence for a couple minutes before speaking. "You awake?" Isaac only opened his left eye and looked towards her without moving his body. "Yeah. Just thinking." he replied.

"About what?" she asked curiously. Isaac closed his eye and quietly sighed. "People I used to know... From before." The little girl stared at him for a moment before looking away.

They were silent for a moment before Isaac spoke, breaking the silence. "You remember your dad?" he asked her. Clementine rolled onto her back and started staring at the ceiling. "He was an engineer. He was funny and cool. He also lent me his hat before he..." she trailed off, leaving them both in silence once again.

A couple of minutes passed by before the boy spoke again. "I don't remember my dad." Clementine rolled over to her side once again to look at Isaac, who had both eyes open as he gazed at the ceiling above them.

"My mom told me stories and showed me pictures, but that's it. From what she told me, he was a crazy guy. But was smart enough to live amongst society. She never told me the details though." Isaac closed his eyes and rolled over to face Clementine. He opened his eyes and frowned. "I also had a sister. Mom told me about her, but I've never seen a picture."

Isaac shook his head and looked away from her. "I'm sorry." he told her. The little girl stared at Isaac for a moment before closing her eyes and rolled over once again. "We should rest." she said to Isaac. He nodded his head and did the same. They closed their eyes to try and get some more rest.

Unbeknownst to them, someone was at the top of the stairs, listening in on them to make sure they wouldn't try anything. It was Luke who volunteered to do this task at the ending hours of the night since Alvin was keeping an eye on them earlier.

Luke seemed to be pondering something he was already suspicious about all day. _"Isaac. I hope you're not related to HIM of all people."_ he thought to himself. Luke then sat up against the wall opposite of him as he kept thinking about it throughout the rest of the night.

 **XXxxXX**

It's now a couple of hours into the morning. Isaac, Clementine, and Pete are walking down a trail that led to a stream that Pete set traps for some fish. Nick was with them as well but got left behind after announcing that he had to take a piss.

Pete was carrying a rifle while the two kids had no weapons on them. But what none of them knew was the fact that Isaac had his pistol tucked into the back of his pants. He had the feeling that the adults wouldn't allow him or Clem to carry any kind of weapon until they were trusted enough.

The little boy was told by his mother to never go anywhere without something to defend yourself with. He learned that the hard way when he almost got bit by a walker back in Texas. His mom obviously got angry with him and made it so that her son wouldn't go anywhere without a weapon.

As the three kept a steady pace down the trail, Pete started to speak. "Heard y'all got an earful from Rebecca last night. You two doing okay?" he said.

"We're fine. Looks like she's got a lot to deal with." Isaac replied. Clementine kept silent as she watched Pete. "Bringing a baby into a world like this... I wouldn't blame her." the little boy added. Pete nods his head. "We're doing what we can." he said.

While they were talking, they went over a gap in the trail that had a door that was used a bridge to cross it. When they got over it, Clementine ran up to the right side of Pete while Isaac kept the rear. The girl then glanced at the rifle Pete was holding. The adult noticed and looked towards her. "Anyone teach you how to shoot?" he asked. She looked up at him.

Pete turned forward once again. "By that, I mean taught proper. Any idiot with a finger can shoot." Pete added. Clementine looked up at Pete. "My friend Lee taught me." she answered.

"That's good. It's important nowadays." Pete said as he stepped over a wire in a fence. Clementine followed and Isaac soon after. Isaac took a look behind them to see if Nick was coming. He didn't see him though. _"How long does it take to take a piss."_ he thought to himself.

Pete turned his head around for a moment to talk to Isaac. "How bout you?" he asks the boy. Isaac looked down as they kept walking and answered after a few seconds. "My grandpa taught me." Isaac answered. Pete nodded his head and turned his head around.

"Nick was about your age first time I took him huntin'." Pete started. "Came across this beautiful 13-point buck just standin' there on the ridgeline." He stopped walking and stuck his arm out. Pete lowered his arm and raised his rifle, not actually aiming at anything. "The boy takes the rifle... lines up the shot just like I taught him... then I hear him start whinin'." He lowers the rifle and looked over at Clementine. "He turns to me and he says 'I can't do it. I can't shoot it, uncle Pete. Please don't make me shoot it.'"

"Aww. That's sad." Clementine commented. Isaac smiled as he listened. Pete smirked at her response. But before he could continue with the story, they became distracted when Nick ran up to them. "Why didn't you wait?" he asked.

Pete sent an annoyed frown towards his nephew. "You want us standin' around while you piss on a tree? You know where the river is, boy." Pete said to him. He then continued forwards with Clementine walking next to him. Isaac was in the middle of the group and Nick took the rear, carrying a rifle of his own.

Pete then continued with the story with Clementine looking up at him while he spoke. "Anyway, so I go to grab the gun out his hand the big buck runs off when BANG! The gun fires. Boy nearly gut shot me. And of course the buck gets away." Nick became annoyed with his uncle telling this story and interrupts. "What're you goin' and tellin' them this shit for?"

They stopped walking once again and Pete turns to face Nick. "Cause you almost blew their faces off yesterday. Seems relevant. Tryin' to let them know it's nothin' personal with you." Pete told him. Nick lowers the rifle he's carrying to his side. "Why are you always giving me a hard time?" Nick said

"Because you're always givin' everyone else a hard time." Pete said angrily. "I apologized already. They accepted." Nick told his uncle. Pete calmed down after Nick said that. "Okay, well I didn't know that." he said.

"All water under the bridge, right?" Isaac commented. The two adults kept glaring at each other. "You're always trying to embarrass me." Nick said.

"You do a good enough job of that on your own." Pete snapped back. Nick growled under his breath and pushed past Pete, purposefully bumping into his shoulder along the way. Pete watched as Nick stomped down the trail. "Leavin' us again?" Pete said.

"I know where the fucking river is!" Nick said as he went ahead. Pete stood there, watching Nick as he walked off while the children stared up at Pete. Isaac was now next to Clementine. After a few seconds, Pete sighed and looked down at the children. "So anyway...I found that buck later that season. Shot it right in the neck. Brought it up to my sister's figurin' she'd want to freeze some of the meat. Nick didn't speak to me for weeks." Pete said, finishing the story.

Pete looked up, down the trail where Nick went. "Sometimes you got to play a role... even if it means people you love hate you for it." he said. Clementine looked down the trail for a moment before looking back at Pete. "You should tell him that." she said. Isaac smiled a little bit as he stared at her. Pete stared down the trail with as he thought it over.

"UNCLE PETE!" Nick yelled out. Pete looked down at the children before running up ahead. Isaac and Clementine followed after them. When the children got there a few seconds later, they see the river. But there were also bodies of people littered around the area.


	6. Chapter 6

Isaac stood there, eyes wide open as he scanned the area from where he stood. He could count at least seven bodies. Four were on their side of the river while the other three were on the other side. The child turned his gaze towards Pete's back, watching him as he poked the nearest body with the barrel of his rifle. You could never be too sure if the dead will stay down.

After examing the body for a moment, Pete got to his feet and turned to Nick who had a fearful look on his face as he started back. "Whoever did this could be close since the body didn't look like it was dead for too long." Pete told them. Nick nodded his head and glanced behind his uncle.

"Who do you think did this?" Clementine asked. Pete looked down at her. "I've got some idea, but don't know for sure yet." he responded. Pete then turned towards Nick once again as he spoke up from where he stood. "Do you think he caught up with us?" Pete stared at his nephew with an unknowing look on his face. Isaac looked up at the adults with a slight glare. "What do you mean by that?" he questioned. The two adults looked down at him for a few seconds without responding to his question and looked back at each other. Isaac shook his head and walked over to the river where some rocks in the stream that stuck out above the water. Pete watched him for a moment before he spoke. "We need to check the rest of them. See if any of them that are still breathing." Nick shook his head after a moment and stomped away. "We should be getting the fuck outta here." he grumbled as he bent down to look over one of the other bodies. "Keep an eye out for ammo. We're running low." Pete said as he did the same.

Clementine stood there for a moment before deciding to join Isaac on the other side. When she got there, she saw Isaac crouched down, going through the pockets of two bodies. One man and the other a woman. She watched him for a few seconds until he got to his feet with his left hand clenched. He shoved the first into his pocket and turned his head towards the girl. His expression was flat. "These people are on the run." he said before turning away to walk over to the last person. She followed behind him. They reached their destination and Isaac turned his head towards her. "We shouldn't stay with them." Before he could say any more, there was the sound of heavy breathing and coughing coming from right next to them.

They both looked down and saw the man looking back up at Isaac with his eyes half-opened, laying on his side. Isaac bent down and stared at the man with a shocked expression. "What happened to you?" the boy said quickly. The man lifted his left hand to barely point in the direction of a pink backpack with a bottle of water sticking out of the back pocket. "Please..." he breathed out. Isaac looked over at Clem who stared at the pack in shock. "Clem." Isaac said to her. She looked over at him and nodded before grabbing the bottle and passing it to him. Isaac quickly twisted the cap off. Clementine lifted the man's head slightly and Isaac poured some of the liquid into his mouth. The man rolled onto his back and stared up at the sky. "Thank you..." he then coughed once again.

Isaac turned his head towards the other side of the river to see that Nick and Pete were having an argument that he couldn't hear from where he was. He turned his head towards Clementine who kept a slight glare on the pink backpack. "What's wrong, Clem?" Isaac said to her. She turned to look at him. "He's one of the people that attacked me and Christa." Isaac's eyes widened slightly. He then looked down at the man who seemed to have a distant look on his face. Isaac knew the didn't have much time left. "Who did this to you?" he asked him. The man coughed again as he answered. "Carver..." The man stayed alive a few more seconds before succumbing to his injuries.

Isaac's eyes widened once again at the man's answer. _"How..."_ he thought to himself before looking up at Clem who was watching his reaction. "Who's Carver?" she asked. Before he could respond, he could see Pete walking towards them from behind her with a disappointed look. "You two find anything?" he asked. Isaac looked down at the dead man for a moment before getting to his feet. "Just a couple of bullets." he answered. Clementine stared at him as she got to her own feet. Pete glanced at the man in front of them for a moment before speaking. "We should get back to the cabin. Tell 'em what we found here" Pete said. Isaac nodded before walking back to the rocks. Pete stared at him for a moment before watching the girl from the corner of his eye as she picked up the pink bag. Pete spoke up before she could walk away. "Anythin' else I should know?" She was still for a moment before responding. "That guy said someone named Carver did this." she told the man. His eyes widened before he glared over at his nephew who was standing next to Isaac.

Both Clementine and Pete crossed the river and joined up with them. They only took a couple of steps forward before the sounds of snarling and gurgling were heard. Nick rose his rifle towards a few walkers emerging from some trees nearby. "Fuck. Lurkers." Pete forcefully lowered Nick's weapon while glaring at him. "Not worth the ammo." Nick nodded and they all started running down the trail with walkers coming out of the trees around them. After a few minutes, Nick told them to stop and pointed out a small building a few yards away from them. The adults barged through the doors and the kids struggled to close them before a few walkers were about to push through. They fought against the doors for a few seconds before Pete and Nick shoved a heavy crate up against the doors, stopping the dead that were currently banging on the door.

The interior consisted of a small foldable table and two chairs in the left corner and a few old and broken wooden shelves with barely anything on them. There was also a contraption of some kind by one of the walls.

Nick sat up against the wall by the table while Pete sat in the chair closest to him. Clementine huddled up against the crate keeping the doors shut while Isaac sat across from her against one of the shelves. Clementine watched Isaac while he had his eyes closed and head down, making it look like he was asleep. Pete had his arms on the table as he started at the rattling doors and Nick was looking at the ceiling. Everyone was silent for a few minutes until Pete spoke up. "Looks like we'll be stuck here for a while." The man the glanced over at Isaac whose eyes were now open and watching the ground. "You willin' to tell me what y'all found there?"

"Just a couple bullets." Isaac responded once again. Pete was quiet for a couple seconds. "Clementine told me about what that man said to you." he said. Nick looked from Isaac to his uncle. "What are you talking about?"

"They found a survivor. He apparently told them who was responsible for what happened back there." Pete said. Nick looked back towards the boy who was now starting at Pete. "Who the hell was it then?" Nick asked.

Pete was silent for a moment. "You know who it was." Pete said. Nick thought for a second before his eyes widened. "Goddamnit." he then turned towards his uncle. "We gotta get back." Nick said. "There's no way we can do that now. Lurkers in the way." Pete responded.

"Tch. Aren't they always?" Nick grumbled sarcastically. Pete didn't respond as he and Isaac kept eye-contact for a few seconds before the child's gaze went back to the ground.

After a minute of silence, Pete thought to himself before he spoke once again. "You know who Carver is, don'tcha?" Pete said as he watched Isaac. The small boy didn't look up at him as he didn't respond.

"If we're gonna trust you two, you gotta tell us somethin"." Pete said. Isaac was silent once again which made Nick agitated. "Why won't you fuckin' talk?!" Nick got to his feet and made his way over to the boy. Isaac looked up at the young man as he got in his face.

Before anything could hapen, Pete forcefully pulled his nephew away. "Lay off! He's just a kid for christ sake!" Pete told Nock. Nick glared at Pete for a second before tearing his arm out of his uncle's grip and reclaiming his spot against the wall. Pete glared down at Isaac as he countered a glare back for a few seconds until he once again sent his gaze towards the ground.

Pete shook his head and sat back down in the chair. The man turned to the table and started to massage his head with his hand.

"Do I look like someone you know?" Pete heard Isaac ask. He turned towards him. He examined Isaac's face for a few seconds before his eyes widened slightly. "You're related to him, ain'tcha?" Isaac remained silent. The child responded by nodding his head. Pete stared at the child. "Shit." Pete mumbled.


	7. Chapter 7

The walkers outside continued to attack the doors hiding the survivors inside a small building that was built halfway into the ground.

Inside, Pete and his nephew, Nick stared at Isaac with shocked expressions. Nick's was angrier than his uncle's. The only other child there had her eyes widened as she watched Isaac stare at the ground in front of him, eyes half opened with a depressed frown on his face.

Nick spoke up first. "Are you his fuckin' kid or something?" Nick asked. Isaac nodded his head. "Yeah. I am." the child responded. Nick's glare became more intense. "I never saw you at the camp. So how the HELL are you his kid?!" Pete turned his face towards Nick. "Calm down for a second." he said. Nick turned his glare back to his uncle. "Calm down?! He's Carver's kid!"

Pete was silent for a moment. "Think about it. Yes. He's his son. Just like Katy's his daughter." Isaac rose his head at the mention of that name. "Katy? You mean my sister?" Isaac said. Pete looked at him from the corner of his eye. "Yeah. She mentioned she had a baby brother out there, but nothin' else." Pete said. The older man turned his attention back to his nephew who was looking down. "You get it yet?" Nick nodded his head slightly. "Yeah."

Nick looked over at Isaac who was now staring at him and Pete with a small smile. But when he noticed Nick, his smile disappeared as he looked away. Nick frowned. "Hey um... I'm sorry... again." Isaac looked over at Nick. "Yeah. Me too." Nick nodded at him. The young adult then yawned. "I'm gonna take a nap." Nick then turned to lay on his side, facing away from everyone.

Pete shook his head and turned away from his nephew. He took a look at Clementine huddled up against the crate that was keeping the doors closed. Her eyes were closed. "You know you don't have to sit there, right?" Pete said. The girl looked up at him for a moment before nodding her head. She got up and went to sit next to Isaac who didn't seem to get uncomfortable as she took a spot a couple inches next to him.

Clementine hugged her legs once more and closed her eyes. Isaac watched her from his peripheral for a moment before he looked back at the ground as he listened to the doors being pushed on from outside.

Pete watched the boy for a minute before he started holding his head in his hands as he watched the shaking doors.

 **XXxxXX**

After he listened to the doors for a while, Isaac eventually fell asleep. When he awoke, he saw Pete creaking the doors open to look outside. Isaac noticed the daylight was almost gone outside, and the lack of corpses. At least what he could see from where he was. He watched Pete as he slowly closed the doors. The man then noticed him. "Not too many out there now. We can make a run for it." Pete said. Isaac nodded his head and turned his attention towards Clem, who was in the same position as she was earlier, but asleep.

Isaac placed his hand on her shoulder and shook her awake. She let out a yawn as she stretched her arms. The two then got to their feet and saw Nick do the same. Everyone gathered by the doors. Pete took a hold of the handles. He turned to the rest of them. "Stick together. If we get separated, try to find somewhere safe to hold up." he said. Nick nods to him while raising his rifle.

Pete slowly and silently pushed the doors open. There were a few walkers on either side of them. Pete took the lead while Clementine took the middle, Isaac was behind her and Nick was in the back of the group. They only got a few feet away from the building before the corpses noticed them. A loud snarl was heard before they took off into a sprint.

Isaac thought for a moment before he stopped running. He then turned around and pulled out his gun from the back of his pants. Pete stopped as well and stared at Isaac's retreating form. "What in the fuck are you doin'?!" he yelled. "Just get back to the cabin!" Isaac yelled before firing the last of his bullets. The boy silently cursed before running off with most of the dead following him.

Nick turned towards his uncle. "I'm goin' after him." he said. Before any reply could be said, Nick ran after the boy. Clementine stared for a moment before running the opposite direction.

"Shit." Pete muttered while chasing after the girl.

 **XXxxXX**

Isaac kept running through the trees, barely dodging the growing number of corpses that tried to take him down. He ran until he saw an abandoned truck ahead. The boy ran up to the truck and frantically jumping into the back that was already opened. Nick was only a few yards away before he heard the slamming of a door. He ran into the clearing to see a white and red truck that was being pounded on by at least ten walkers.

"Goddamnit!" he muttered to himself before checking the ammo in his rifle. There were only three bullets left. Nick shook his head and rose the weapon. Nick shot a round through one of the walker's heads. "C'mon! You sons of bitches!" he yelled out. The dead turned to Nick and started to walk towards him, except two that continued to try and break into the truck.

Nick turned around and started to run in the direction that he thought was where the small building that they hid was. The dead that became distracted by the man walked after him.

Inside the truck, Isaac turned the key in the back doors so he could lock himself inside. He fell on his butt and backed away quickly until he was up against the back of the driver's seat. The child tried to calm his heavy breathing as he looked around the interior. To his left he saw a couple of small unopened cardboard boxes while to his right were metal shelves that only had a medium-sized hacksaw on the bottom shelf.

After a few minutes, Isaac started to hug his legs. His attention landed on the boxes next to him. Out of curiosity, he opened one of them to find it was half-filled with packs of Red & Gold brand cigarettes. Isaac shook his head before closing the box and going back to hugging his legs. _"Hopefully Nick's alright. Don't want his, or anyone's death over my head."_

The truck shook violently as walkers kept pounding around the vehicle. _"This is going to be a long night."_ he thought to himself as he tightened his embrace on his legs.

 **XXxxXX**

Clementine and Pete kept running along the trail. The daylight was almost completely gone. Pete is in front so that they would actually find the cabin. The man's rifle was lowered since he was out of ammo.

After a couple minutes of running, Pete could see the cabin. Without saying anything, he sped up. Clementine did the same behind him.

Pete quickly opened the back door that led into the kitchen. When the girl got inside, Pete slammed the door shut. While he locked it, Carlos entered into the kitchen with Luke right behind him. "What happened? Where's Nick and the other kid?" Luke asked.

Pete turned to the two men and shook his head. "Lurkers jumped us on the way here. Isaac ran off and Nick went after him." he then looked down at his feet and started to rub his head with his fingers. "Fuckin' hell..."

Luke's eyes widened as he stared at Pete. Carlos stared at Clementine for a moment before Alvin and Rebecca opened the door behind him. Rebecca walked up to Pete. "Where were you?" she asked.

"There were bodies at the river. Fresh. From the looks of it. It must've happened this morning." Pete told them. After a few moments of silence, Carlos turned his attention towards Pete. "Must've been him then." Carlos said.

Pete nodded his head. "Yeah. It was." he said. Luke started to pace with his hand under his chin with a fearful look on his face.

Alvin took a step past his wife. "What about Nick and Isaac? We can't just leave 'em out there." he said. Pete stared at him for a moment before shaking his head. "I know, but we can't just run out there. Not with the lurkers out there." Pete said.

Luke stopped pacing and sighed. "Pete's right. We gotta move on anyways." he said. Clementine exited the room without saying anything. Rebecca stared at the door for a moment before turning back to the others. She looked over at Alvin who was returning the gesture.

"We get everythin' we need and head out in the morning." Pete said. He then left to go to his room. After a few more minutes of talking, everyone went into their separate rooms to pack.

Clementine sat on the recliner in the main room, staring at her hands as she twiddled her thumbs while she waited for the next day.

 **XXxxXX**

Isaac was wide awake. He was now seated in the passenger's seat of the vehicle, which he thought was better than the cold metal floor. It doesn't help that there are corpses right outside. They stopped trying to get in, which was nice.

The boy had his arms crossed and eyes shut as he was trying to skip the night, but no success was found. Instead, Isaac was thinking about his family. Specifically his father and sister.

 _"From how those two were acting, it seems my father got worse than before."_ Isaac opened his eyes and started at the quarter moon surrounded by stars. Isaac smiled as he examined the sky. "Heh. The end of the world can't take away the stars at least." he muttered to himself.

As soon as he closed his mouth, he heard some people talking outside the truck. "Area's clear. Let's open 'er up." he heard a man's voice say. Isaac looked around until his eyes landed on the small area in front of his chair. He then pushed himself inside until he couldn't go any farther.

A few seconds passed and then he heard someone trying to open the back of the truck. After that, there was silence.

The man outside was a skinny white man with short brown hair and facial hair. He was wearing a camo hoodie and brown jeans.

There was another person with him. He was also a white male, but he was a few inches taller and a bit more muscular. His hair was almost black with a few grey strands. His facial hair was also greying and short while the other's was almost a few inches long. The bigger man wore a black leather jacket and dark blue jeans.

He also had a brown backpack on which had a crowbar sticking out the back, which he pulled out and handed to the other man who snatched it from his hands.

"Just be quiet. Don't know what, or who's in there." The shorter man then pulled out a pistol with a silencer attached to the barrel. "Ain't no rookie." he said. He then waved his hand in a shooing manner. The bigger man rolled his eyes as he took a few steps backward and raised his own gun. The smaller man shoved the crowbar in between the doors and slowly applied pressure until the door flew open, which made a lot of noise.

"What in the hell did I just say?!" the big man said. "Shut the fuck up Andy. I know!" The short man then climbed into the truck after seeing nothing alive or dead inside, waiting for them. He turned towards Andy. "I'll go fast."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll keep a lookout." Andy replied. The unnamed man then proceeded to pick up the hacksaw on the shelf when he spotted it. He then went over to the two small boxes behind the chair. As he opened one up, he heard some kind of movement.

The man rose his pistol and looked over the chair he was currently behind. After a few seconds, his eyes locked with Isaac's, who was now aiming his gun at him.

He backed away slowly until he was out of the truck. Andy side-glanced his friend and noticed that he looked surprised. "Whatchu find in there?" he asked.

Andy then turned around and watched as Isaac emerged from his hiding spot, gun still raised. His eyes widened in shock. "That's what." the unnamed man said. Isaac darted his blue eyes from one another in a panic.


	8. Chapter 8

_**(With Isaac)**_

The boy kept his gun raised, still aiming at the man that saw him first since he had his own gun. He also darted his eyes towards Andy. The two men looked at each other for a moment. The shorter of the two started to move the weapon towards Andy. Isaac became alarmed by this and clicked the safety off of his gun.

The man snapped his attention towards the child. "Jus' putting it away's all I'm doin'," he told Isaac. The child nodded his head without lowering his weapon. He watched the man unzip the pack and drop his gun inside.

Isaac slowly lowered his gun. "Who are you?" he asked them. Andy stared at Isaac for a moment before replying. "Name's Andres. And he's-"

"Jerry." he suddenly interrupted Andres. Jerry shot Andy a slight glare before looking back at Isaac.

The child looked down at the ground in thought for a couple of seconds. His attention went back towards Andy. "You with Carver?" he silently asked. The man's eyes squinted as he stared back at the child. "No." he answered.

Isaac shook his head and tucked his weapon behind his pants. "I should go." the child said before he started to walk away.

"What d'ya mean 'go'? It's almost pitch black out here!" Jerry said. The child stopped in his tracks. Andres took a step towards Isaac. "Look, just come with us for now. Tomorrow, you can go wherever it is you need to go," he said to the child. Isaac turned to look at Andy. "Can't you agree to that?" the man asked. Isaac's gaze went towards Jerry for a moment who had a neutral expression on his face.

Isaac looked back at Andy who was staring back at him, waiting for an answer. Isaac shrugged his shoulders. "Better than being out here, I guess," he answered. The bigger of the two men smiled while Jerry turned around. "Well let's get a move on before the rots show up." Jerry said. Andy nodded and followed his friend with Isaac close behind.

After a few minutes of speed-walking, they slowed down. Isaac then picked up his own pace until he was next to Andres while Jerry was a few feet in front of them. Andy glanced down at the child and frowned. Isaac didn't notice. "Rots?" the child inquired. Andy looked up at Jerry's back. "That's what he calls them. What do you call them?" the man asked.

"Walkers." Isaac answered. "Makes sense." Andy said in response. They both walked in silence for a few seconds. "How'd you end up in that truck anyway?" Andy asked.

"Walkers tried to get me." the boy answered. Andy nodded his head and noticed that Jerry was slowing down.

They came to a stop at an RV, which from the looks of it, wasn't there until a day or two ago. Isaac eyed the vehicle for a moment. "Anyone going to jump me as soon as I go in?" he asked. Jerry chuckled softly, then grabbed the handle to the side door. "If you're afraid of a toddler, then sure."

"You have a baby in there?!" Isaac said. Jerry said nothing in response. He then pulled the door open slowly and climbed inside, followed by Andres. As soon as Isaac climbed inside a few seconds later, he noticed an infant girl that looked to be one, almost two years old, wearing a dirty pink sweater with a black kitten on it. She also had some dark blue pajamas on, and fluffy white socks on her feet. Isaac stared at the sleeping girl with a giant-sized black t-shirt, which was being used as a blanket in shock. He knew who the little girl was, but how did she end up here?

"S-Sophia?!" Isaac said in a loud whisper, so he wouldn't wake her up. Andres and Jerry stared at the boy in shock at knowing her name. "How..." Andres muttered before he realized something. He then started to smile. "Well, I'll be damned. You're Isaac. From Texas." Isaac glanced up at the tall man. "Who... How..."

"We can explain later," Jerry said as he went over to the driver's seat. "But right now, I'm fuckin' beat."

Andy nodded his head. He then pointed to a folded sleeping bag on the table as he walked past to get to the only bedroom. "You can take the bag and lay it down wherever, just not near me." Isaac nodded his head and watched as Andres close the bedroom door behind him.

Isaac took a moment to look over at the unconscious infant. _"Sophie. I thought we lost you back then."_ he thought to himself before he snatched the sleeping bag and started to lay it down on the ground next to his cousin.

 **XXxxXX**

It is now the next morning. The two men stood outside with Isaac and watched as he interacted with the little girl, who warmed back up to him almost immediately. Isaac held out a brown plush puppy while she kept reaching out to it. Andres and Jerry smiled as they observed the two.

The boy looked up at them and his smile went away. He then handed the plush to Sophia and got to his feet.

Isaac stared at the two men for a few seconds before shaking his head. "How did she end up with you two?" he asked them. Jerry looked down at the ground for a moment. He looked up, back at Isaac. "There were two people that were taking care of her, before we ran into each other, literally." Jerry laughed for a few seconds before Andres continued. "What he means is that we were running from a bunch of them, and Jerry accidentally tackled Joel. We survived together ever since."

Isaac knew who Joel was. He knew him back in Texas. He was a local in Tarrant County that their group picked up. He was a little less than six feet tall, slim, with a little bit of muscle. Joel and Kay (Isaac's mom) were actually in a relationship, but nothing too serious.

"Joel was a good guy," Isaac said. He then looked down at the ground for a moment. "You said there were two?"

"Yeah," Andres answered. "She was called Nora. Half a foot taller than he was. Great sniper."

"What happened to them?" Isaac asked. Jerry sighed. "We got cornered by so many of them dead. Got the kid out of there after Nora created a distraction. Didn't see 'em go down, but they never came back, which makes me assume..." the short man trailed off.

Everyone was silent for few seconds, except for Sophia, who was still playing with her plush.

"Where... Where were you headed before this RV broke down?" Isaac asked out of curiosity.

"Well, we WERE going to Florida. But that was before Sophia, so..." Jerry said. "I mentioned a community near Michigan, where we could keep her safe," Andres said. The boy perked up when he heard that. "Wellington?!" he said. Andres stared down at Isaac in surprise. "Were you heading there?"

"Yeah, but me and my friend were picked up by a different group a couple of days ago," Isaac told them.

"They bad people?" Andy asked. Isaac shook his head and rolled up his sleeve to show them his stitched arm. Jerry stared at the injury. "What happened there?" he asked.

"A random dog got the jump on me." the boy answered before rolling his sleeve back up. "Anyway, my friend's still with them. They also have my stuff."

"You know where they're at?" Jerry asked. The boy shrugged his shoulders. "They were in a cabin with a shed nearby, but I don't know if they're there anymore." Jerry nodded and turned towards the RV. "Wouldn't hurt to check the place along the way." He then opened the door. "Gonna pack what we need real quick, then we head out." After saying that, he climbed inside and shut the door behind him.

Isaac nodded his head before looking down at the infant playing with her stuffed animal and smiled. Andy watched the boy for a moment with a thoughtful look. "Why don't you think these people aren't gonna be there? Does it have anything to do with this Carver guy?"

The boy's smile disappeared as he stared down at his cousin. "Yeah. This group got away from him, and he's trying to get them back. That's all I know." he answered the man. Andy's eyes narrowed. "I assume he's the problem?" Isaac nodded his in response to Andres' question. The man crossed his arms as he redirected his attention towards Sophia.

A couple of minutes pass before Jerry exited the vehicle with the same backpack they had the previous night. It was filled with what little food and water they had left. He also had a black pistol with a silencer attached in one hand, and a metal baseball bat in the other.

"I was scoutin' the woods the other day. After thinkin' about it, I remembered seeing a big house, but kept my distance for obvious reasons." He walked over to Andres. "Let's see if they have gotten out of dodge yet," Jerry added as he handed the gun to his companion, who took it and tucked it into the back of his pants.

The man then went up to Isaac and his cousin and bent down to carry the infant. Isaac stared at the man for a couple of seconds before he stood up. The boy pulled out his weapon, just in case they ran into trouble. Andres noticed. "The walkers would be right on top of us if you did something that stupid," he told Isaac. "Just saying." he then started to follow after Jerry, who was waiting for them by the trees.

Isaac looked down at the gun he had in his hand for a few seconds and tucked it in his pants reluctantly before he went after the adults.

The group didn't realize that they were being watched from behind some trees, by a man who looked to be somewhere in his forties. He smiled darkly after confirming what he was suspecting. "Gotta say though," he muttered as he watched his newfound son following the two strangers into the woods. "The more, the merrier." he finished before silently following after them.


	9. Chapter 9

**(With Clementine)**

Clementine rubbed her eyes as she woke up the next morning. She only got a couple hours of sleep before the sounds of the other people in the cabin, that were now talking in the kitchen, woke her up.

After a few seconds, she glanced over at Isaac's backpack, which she packed and set next to her chair. She slowly got off of the recliner she was sitting on and picked up the bag. The girl then slings the pack over her shoulders before opening the kitchen door to see Pete, Luke, and Carlos talking by the back door.

She also noticed a teenage girl with red glasses look over at her from the table, and shot her a small smile. The girl known as Sarah smiled back. Clementine then closed the door behind her as she went into the room.

Clementine noticed three large backpacks on the table in front of Sarah, and Isaac's bow with its singular arrow next to it. Her gaze lingered on the bow for a few seconds before turning towards Pete, who was also staring at the weapon.

"If you two could survive this long, in a shit-hole of a world like this... I'm sure he'll be fine." The little girl looked down for a moment before nodding her head. "I bet Nick's okay too." she said. Pete took a glance at the girl and smiled.

Rebecca then entered the kitchen with Alvin right behind her, carrying a backpack over his shoulders. "We ready yet?" the pregnant woman asked impatiently. Carlos and Luke walked over to the table. Carlos put a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "You didn't forget anything Sarah?" he asked. Sarah grabbed one of the packs. "I got everything. Don't worry."

Luke and Pete grabbed the other two packs a few seconds after. Pete was about to grab the bow and arrow, but Clementine beat him to it. The girl stared at Pete as she put her arm through the bow (like how Ellie carried hers in the Last of us). Pete turned to head for the door with Carlos and Sarah behind him. Luke took a moment to make eye contact with Clementine before he did the same.

The girl grabbed the arrow from the table and followed them. Alvin and Rebecca went out last as they exited the house.

 **XXxxXX**

The group left the cabin behind half an hour ago. Pete told them that he knew which direction the small building that they previously hid was. He was thinking that there would be the best place to start looking.

Pete was leading the group, with Luke carrying his rifle behind him. Carlos had his arm around his daughter's shoulders as they kept to the middle of the group with Alvin and Rebecca a couple of steps behind, while Clementine kept a bit of distance in the back of the group.

Rebecca turned her head to look at the girl, who was keeping an eye on the tree line. The pregnant woman slowed down until she was walking next to her. Clementine took a moment to look at her. "I'm sorry for how I was acting. Back at the cabin." Rebecca told Clementine.

The girl shook her head. "It's fine. I understand." Clementine glanced at Rebecca's belly before turning away.

"If it's not you I'm yellin' at lately, it Alvin, and then I'm in real trouble." Rebecca said. "I can handle it. I'm not a little kid." Clementine said in response. "I felt the same way when I was your age. My dad was always givin' me shit, and I always thought he didn't know a damn thing." Rebecca told her.

"I know you did your best back there." Rebecca looked down at her. "You know, none of us would make it on our own. Sometimes it's hard just knowing how dependent I am on everyone. I'm not used to that. I'm not comfortable with that. I'm supposed to be a mom soon. Guess I need to work on my patience."

"Alvin and I still don't know what to call her. Or him, if that man gets his wish, god help me." Clementine looked up and saw Pete and Like walking towards the building. Rebecca noticed too and walked up to Alvin.

Clementine ran up to them as the two men approached the now closed doors. Pete and Like looked at each other. Pete nodded his head and hit a door with the side of his first. "Nick, Isaac. You in there?" Like spoke.

They then heard some shuffling. After a few seconds, they heard the sound of something heavy being dragged away from the door. The door then opened, revealing Nick's tired-looking face.

Nick turned to Pete. "I almost got drunk, you know," he said. Pete shot a smile at him for a second before noticing that Isaac wasn't with him. "Where's Isaac? He's not with you." Pete asked. Nick shook his head. "I went after him and saw him jump in a truck."

"You know where it is?" Like asked. Nick looked at Luke. "Got a pretty good idea."

"Lead the way then." Pete told him. Nick nodded and ran up to everyone else.

Pete looked between Luke and Clementine for a moment before running after his nephew. Clementine looked down with saddened expression on her face. Luke watched her, also with a sad look in his eyes. "He'll be okay." he said. Clementine looked up at him. "Gotta hope for it, at least." Clementine thought for a moment before nodding and running up to the group. Luke watched for a couple seconds, with a small smile on his face. He then walked over as well.

The group then followed Nick in silence, until they spotted a clearing through some of the trees. Everyone looked at each other for a moment before Nick started to walk towards it with his uncle next to him.

Luke turned to watch Clementine run after them. A few seconds later, Clementine watched as Nick ran up to the open doors of the white and red truck. "Fuck! This is where he was. Where'd he go?!" Nick said to Pete as the older man climbed out of the inside. Pete said nothing as he stared at the doors, which seem to be damaged. "My guess is that someone else found him. Must've broken the lock from the outside." Pete told them.

Clementine stared at the truck from a few feet away in shock. "Isaac..." she muttered. Pete turned to look at her and sighed.

"Let's just hope that whoever has him now, isn't with Bill..." Nick said. He then went back to the group. Pete stared at the truck for a moment before walking over to Clementine and gently squeezing her shoulder. She looked up to him in response. They stared at each other for a moment before she nodded. They then went back to the group to see Luke examining a map. The man folded up the map and sighed. "I figure we got about four or five days to reach those mountains. Now, if they're trackin' us, we should be able to lose 'em up there." he told everyone.

"Five days?!" Rebecca said. Alvin then put his arm around her shoulders. "Everything's gonna be okay, Bec." he told her. Carlos let his daughter go and crossed his arms over his chest. "We have to keep moving now. It's our only choice." he said.

"We should get movin' then. Got no other choice." Pete commented. Clementine was now staring at the ground. She nodded her head in response.

Everyone sent the child a sympathetic look before they started their hike towards their destination, to hopefully find a way to escape.

* * *

 **I know it's a shorter chapter than what I was doing. I kind of forgot about this for a minute. Family issues and all that. Who doesn't have those, right? That and I got distracted by a couple different series like Sword Art Online and Detroit Become Human.**

 **I'll try to keep up on this, but I promise nothing. Review if you want, and I don't hate it if criticism was among those messages.**

 **Hope y'all are having a great day, and it stays that way. 3**


	10. Chapter 10

**(With Isaac)**

The group of four just left the broken down RV behind, with a plan to check the last place Isaac said the group he was with the previous day. Jerry kept himself a few feet ahead of the group, so he could lead them to the said cabin in the woods. Andres held the brown-haired toddler as she played with a black puppy plush. Isaac kept to Andres' left side, watching his cousin with a small smile on his face.

The Hispanic man looked down at the boy and formed a smile of his own. "You're lucky, you know," he said to Isaac. The boy's smile disappeared at the comment, and he then turned his attention forward. "It's might be this "luck" that brought Sophie and me together again. But it's also the force that took away the rest of my family."

Andres frowned to himself as he heard that. "Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for," Isaac responded.

After a few minutes of silently walking, Jerry stopped and let the others catch up while he observed the cabin up ahead. Jerry turned around and pointed towards the building. "That it, kid?" he asked. Isaac took a glance and noticed the small metal shed. "Definitely."

"How do we go about this?" Andres questioned. Jerry stared at Isaac. "If they're in there, I'm thinkin' that they would be more trusting if the kid went in before us." Isaac looked at Jerry for a moment before he nodded his head. "We'll stay back here. Hollar in case there's trouble." Jerry told the child. "Alright," Isaac said.

Andres stared at Isaac for a moment before turning towards the building in silence. Isaac then made his way to the building's back door. He then went inside and shut the door behind him. The two adults watched the building in silence for a few seconds. "Kid's got some hope in him. Most tend to lose it after all this time." Jerry commented while Andres was rocking Sophia in his arms.

"Yeah, but the kid lost his family, or at least, that's what I'm assuming." They then heard the sound of a gun clicking right behind them. "Not all of them." the voice said,

Jerry tried to turn around to see who was holding them up, but the voice spoke up. "Do that, and I'll kill ya." Jerry stopped turning. "And what do you want from us, exactly?" Andres asked. The voice then chuckled. "You'll figure it out sooner or later."

Andres thought to himself for a moment. "You're related to Isaac, right?" he asked. The voice was silent for a moment. "Yeah, but he might not know about me." the voice answered.

Jerry watched as Isaac exited the building at that moment, with a disappointed look on his face. The voice grumbled to himself. "This NEVER happened." The two men then heard whoever it was run away. Isaac approached them a few seconds later. "They aren't there. Must've gone north, maybe." The child looked up at the two men's concerned faces. "Did something happen?"

Jerry looked down at him for a moment before shaking his head. "If you count standin' around, waitin' for ya, then sure." he then chuckled to himself softly. He then pointed towards the trail. "Did you see any tracks there? It would help out in following 'em." Isaac looked down for a moment before sprinting towards the dirt trail.

Andres and Jerry glanced over at each other. "What have we gotten ourselves into, Andy?"

Andres stared at Isaac as he examined the ground. "Someone else's shit. And it's too late to get out of it now." he then went towards Isaac. Jerry put a hand on his face and sighed before he ran over to them.

Carver watched as the small group headed down the trail after a few minutes of talking and smiled darkly. He then took the radio strapped to his side and held down the button. "Heading back. We're moving out." The radio responded with a different man's voice. "Yessir." the radio cut off. Carver turned the dial on the radio and held the button again. "It's definitely him. He and the rest will be back home soon enough." he then cut his own radio off before it could respond, and went back the way he came.

 **XXxxXX**

The sun was now gone, replaced by the quarter moon, and the group of four decided to stop in a small, open area near the dirt path. They set up a sleeping bag for Sophia, who was now asleep, cuddling her plush. Isaac sat down next to her and watched her sleep, with a smile on his face.

The two men then walked over to him. Isaac looked up at them and stood up. "Me and Andy are gonna take turns on watch duty while you get some rest," Jerry told Isaac. The child narrowed his eyes. "There's something you're not telling me, right?" Jerry just stared at the child. "The hell d'you mean by that?"

Isaac turned to look at his cousin. "Nothing." the child then laid down, on his side and closed his eyes. The two men stared down at Isaac.

Jerry sighed and turned towards Andres "I'll go first." he said. Andres stared at the shorter man. "You know you don't have to, right?"

"Just shut up, and catch some z's, man." Jerry snapped in response. Jerry turned and walked away. Andres shrugged his shoulders and went to do just that.

Isaac opened one of his eyes to stare at the sky for a moment. He then closed his eye and stayed that way for a few minutes before he heard a voice addressing him. "You all right, kid?" Andres spoke.

Isaac sat up and looked towards the man as he watched him from where he sat. "I guess. As okay as anyone can be." Andres nodded his head to that. They were both silent for a moment.

"Who'd you lose? If it bothers you, I understand if you don't want to say-" "I lost my mom a couple weeks ago." Isaac cut him off.

Andres stared at Isaac. "I'm sorry. Shouldn't have asked," he said. Isaac was silent for a moment. "Like I said before; it's not your fault. I had to say something about it at some point."

"I was alone after she... After a while, I only had, still have, one goal. Get to safety. To Wellington." The man watched Isaac as he spoke with a sad expression. "Then I met Clementine. The friend I talked about. She wanted to go to Wellington too, so we decided to get there together."

"Now I'm here, with you guys. And she's with that other group, who are on the run from dad." Isaac stopped suddenly as he said that. Andres thought to himself for a moment before making eye contact with the child. "This Carver guy's your dad, ain't he?" After a few seconds, Isaac nodded his head in response.

They both went silent after that After half a minute, Andres spoke again. "We'll rest up, and head out in the morning." Isaac just laid back down and closed his eyes after nodding his head.

Andres stared at the boy for a moment, before getting to his feet and walking towards Jerry.

 **Five days later**

 **(With Clementine)**

Clementine approached a large rock, binoculars in her hand. It's been five days since they left the cabin in the woods behind. She's been worried about Isaac the whole time but has accepted the fact that they might not see him again. She set the boy's backpack and bow on the ground to climb up the rock in front of her.

The rest of the group were either watching her, scanning the immediate area, or checking in on each other. Alvin sat down on a tree stump, next to his pregnant wife while they conversed.

Carlos bent down to his daughter's head level as they talked as well. Luke, Nick, and Pete stood beside each other. Nick kept an eye on the trail where they came from, in case someone was tailing them. Pete had his arms crossed as he examined a bridge that lead towards the other side of the river between the two cliffs. Luke looked down at his map for a few seconds before back at Clementine, who was laying on top of the rock, on her stomach, with the binoculars over her eyes.

"See anything?" the machete-wielder asked her. Alvin looked up and noticed the girl. "She better see somethin'. We've been walkin' for a damn week." he commented. Rebecca nodded her head in agreement. "We've gotta find somewhere rest for a bit, at least," Pete added.

Clementine looked towards the red bridge first. "There's the bridge."

"Is it passable?" Pete asked. Clementine examined it for a moment. "I think so." Pete smiled. "That's good." A moment later, the girl's attention went towards a small building on the other end of the bridge. "There's a little house by the bridge." she said.

Carlos got to his feet and looked towards her as well. "How big is it?" he asked. "It's pretty small." she answered.

Clementine then turned her head to look further up the mountain before Nick shouted, surprising her. "Don't fuckin' move!" The girl turned and slid down the rock as she saw the group look down the trail behind Nick, Luke, and Pete. When she got close enough, she saw Nick aiming his rifle at two men. One was shorter than the other, the shorter of the two slowly stuffing the pistol he had in the back of his pants.

"Calm down, man. We got kids with us." The bigger of the two said. Pete was about to question them but noticed a small figure a few yards away, of a child carrying something. A few moments later, the old man gasped at the sight of Isaac, carrying a small child. "Isaac?!" he said.

Isaac stopped for a moment before quickening his pace. When he approached, he saw the larger group's eyes widen at Sophia. He then turned his attention to Jerry. "Told you." he said. The shorter of the two men chuckled in response. "Well, sorry for doubtin' ya then," he responded.

Clementine pushed past Luke and saw Isaac. She smiled and ran up to him. When she got to him, she turned her focus towards the infant in his arms. "This is Sophia. My cousin." Clementines eyes widened. "Really?" she questioned. Isaac looked up at the rest of the group as they went to interrogate Jerry and Andres by the boulder.

He then saw a teenage girl watching them a couple of feet away from the group, especially the little girl in Isaac's arms.

Isaac and Clementine made eye-contact with each other. "Let's go see the others then." Isaac said. Clementine watched as the boy set Sophia down and pulled the infant to her feet. Sophia looked towards the group, then to Isaac who smiled at her. "Let's go, Sophie." he said as he pulled her forward softly before she started to walk along with him.

Behind them, Clementine stood there and smiled as she watched them. She then looked down as she remembered Christa and Omid, and the baby they could've had. Her smile disappeared before she went after them.


	11. Chapter 11

When the children walked back, Isaac noticed that Pete and Luke were talking to Andres and Jerry by the rock on the edge of the cliff. From where he stood, Isaac could see the irritation on Jerry's face as he crossed his arms. Andres didn't look too happy either.

Isaac turned his head toward Clementine who was standing to his right, watching the men talk. "Do you mind keeping her company?" he asked her. She looked back at him. "Sure," she replied. "Thanks. Won't take too long," he said before heading towards the group of four.

Clementine watched Isaac as he approached them. After a few seconds, she felt a small tug on her shirt. She looked down to see Sophia staring up at her as if she was curious about something.

"Hi there. Um, my name is Clementine." She said awkwardly, not knowing what else to do. Sophia continued to stare for a moment before the toddler opened her mouth. "Cle-Clem" Sophia tried to pronounce her name. Clementine smiled at the girl. "That's my name... Heh. You're a smart one, aren't you?" Clementine watched as the girl smiled back at her.

"And you two just stumbled upon him?" Pete asked Andres who nodded in response. "Yeah. When we found that truck, we weren't expecting to find a kid aiming a gun at us," he said.

"Shouldn't let a kid threaten you so easily." Andres turned his head towards Isaac as he said that. "Most people would've shot you without a second thought." the man told Isaac in response. The child nodded his head after a moment. "Point taken," he said.

Pete and Luke stared at the child, Luke with a saddened expression and Pete with a slightly angered look in his eyes.

The older of the two turned his head towards the big building at the top of the mountain. "Anyway, we're headin' towards that building up there. Rest up, then keep goin'." Pete said, pointing up at the top of the mountain. Andres looked up at the building for a moment before noticing the red bridge that connects to the other side of the river below. "What's the plan? Everyone at once?" Jerry asked, noticing the same thing.

Luke shook his head. "I'd rather talk it out with everyone else first," he said. Pete nodded in agreement. Andres shrugged his shoulders. "That's fine," he said.

Luke then went over to the others, with Pete following him.

Isaac and Andres made eye contact for a moment. "Well, let's get this over with." He muttered before heading in the same direction. Jerry stood there for a few seconds before sighing deeply. He said nothing else as he followed his friend.

Isaac ran up to Clementine as she was kneeling down in front of Sophia with a smile on her face. Clem looked up at Isaac as he approached and stood up as he stopped. "We're planning our next move," Isaac told her. Clem nodded. She then took Sophia's hand and followed Isaac.

Nick was sitting up against a rock with his uncle standing next to him. Rebecca and Alvin were to their right, while Carlos stood across from Luke with his daughter to his left.

Clementine went to go stand next to Luke while Isaac and Sophia opted to be with Jerry and Andres who stood few feet away from everyone else.

Carlos waited for a moment before crossing his arms. "We have to cross that bridge. Let's go."

"Hold on now. We can't all go sprinting across that thing, okay? If we get spotted out there, we're gonna be trapped." Luke said.

"Going around that lake will take too long," Carlos argued. Luke put his left hand on his hip. "Right, but... look, we've got no idea who's out there. Okay, I'm gonna sneak across and make sure it's clear before we bring the whole group over." Luke said, removing his hand from his hip.

Carlos stared at the younger man for a few seconds. "You think splitting up the group is a good idea?" he questioned.

"I never said it was a GOOD idea. But it's better than riskin' everyone at once." Luke answered.

"What's your plan?" Alvin asked. Luke's gaze went over towards Isaac. "Isaac and I can scoot across low and slow and make sure nobody's waitin' for us on the other side." Isaac looked up at him as he said that with a thoughtful expression.

Andres took a glance at the kid next to him before placing a hand on his shoulder. The boy looked at him. They stared at each other for a moment. "You know you don't have to, right?" Andres told him.

Isaac nodded his head. "I know." The child turned his attention towards a rock and saw his black backpack laying up against it. The child then went to the bag to retrieve something.

While Andres and Isaac were talking, the others were still talking. "We'll have a tough time coverin' you from back here," Alvin said to Luke who had a slightly saddened look on his face. "Well, we'll just turn back if it gets hairy," he said in response.

Carlos looked down at the ground in thought for a few seconds before staring at Luke. "Are you sure about this? He's..." the Hispanic trailed off. Luke crossed his arms over his chest. "He's what?" Luke asked. Carlos kept his gaze on the younger male. "He's a child, Luke," Carlos answered.

"He's tougher than he looks. If he could kill a walker right after getting his arm sewed up, he's fit to cross a bridge." Luke argued. Alvin shoved his hands into his coat pockets. "He's got a point," Alvin added.

Isaac walked up to Luke and turned to look at Carlos. "I can do it," he said.

Luke smiled and crossed his arms. "See? No problem," he said. His smile fell after a couple of seconds and uncrossed his arms. "It's gonna be fine. Okay? We'll signal you guys in ten minutes. Just watch for a light at the far side." Luke told them. Nick then got to his feet. "I can go too," he said.

Pete then gripped his nephew's shoulder. Nick turned to look at him. "Just stay put. They'll be fine," he said to Nick. Nick looked like he wanted to argue, but after a few seconds, he nodded his head and sat back down.

"I don't like this," Carlos added his two cents. "Yeah, well, when's the last time you liked anything, Carlos?" Luke argued as he turned around. Isaac glanced at Sophia, then to Clementine. They stared at each other for a moment before he looked up at Luke. "Let's go," Isaac said. The two left the group.

After about a minute of walking, Luke spoke up. "Hey, uh, sorry about that. I just could really use your eyes, and right now I don't trust Nick to tie his own shoes," he said as he looked back for a moment. He then looked down at Isaac who was keeping his attention forward. "Carver was at the cabin while we went searching for you and Nick. Everyone's been on edge since then." Luke told him.

Isaac looked down for a few seconds. "Wasn't that, like, five days ago?" the child said. He looked up at Luke. "He's either persistent, or he's crazier than he was before." Isaac turned away. "Probably both," he added.

Luke stared at him for a moment before turning away as well. After a few seconds of silence, Luke spoke again. "You know what the most important thing in this world is?" He then looked back at the child. Isaac watched the ground in thought.

"What do you think everyone wants? Even the gangs. What do you think they're all after?" Isaac looked up after a few seconds. "Family..." Isaac answered. Luke watched him for a second before turning his attention forwards once again. "It's a tough world out there without people you can trust." Isaac frowned after he said that.

His thoughts went to the family he lost. His mother, grandfather, and others he came to care about that were either left behind or died trying to survive in this world.

As they got to the end of the trees, the two males noticed two walkers that were blocking their only way onto the bridge. One was roaming right in front of the bridge, while the other was lying against a rock to the left of the first.

"Hmm. We can't shoot 'em. Too much noise. But there're only two." Isaac pulled his knife out of his pocket. "Let's take 'em." the child said with a neutral look. Luke glanced down at him. "I like your style," he said with a smile.

They took a few steps forward and crouched down behind a rock. "I'll take the big one. You get shorty. Luke told Isaac. "Got it," Isaac said in reply.

"Good. Let's do it." Luke pulled out his machete while Isaac rose his knife. The two started to walk slowly towards their separate targets so they would have less of a chance to be spotted. As they split up, Isaac took a glance towards Luke for a moment before turning his attention to the walker he was going to kill. When he was a couple feet away, he rose his weapon above his head, ready to stab.

The boy didn't hesitate to put the ex-person down before it even got the chance to move. The hunting knife plunged straight through the top of its head with a bit of resistance. A couple of seconds after, he heard the swinging of metal to his right, where Luke took out the other walker. The man let out a breath as his walker fell.

The boy took a moment before pulling his knife out, darkened blood splatting onto his face in the process. Isaac turned to look at Luke who already had dried blood on his face from earlier. The man grinned at Isaac. "Nice job, kid." Isaac frowned before saying. "For killing something that was a person at some point.

Luke frowned as well shaking his head in agreement. "At least you ain't enjoying it. Like most people these days." Luke then turned towards the bridge. "Let's keep goin'." Isaac nodded and went to follow him.

 **(With Clementine)**

Everyone sat or stood in their spots for the last minute in total silence. Carlos was standing where he was with his arms crossed, watching the bridge for any kind of signal. Sarah went over to Rebecca and Alvin and took a seat next to them, hugging her folded legs while doing so. The married couple didn't mind, Rebecca keeping an eye on her while her husband watched the two newcomers.

Andres and Jerry went to talk in private a few yards away by the rock while Sophia decided to sit next to Clem while playing with her stuffed animal.

The older girl watched Sophie with a small smile on her face. In her mind, it was better to not think about what ifs whenever someone or others decided to split up. It was less of a problem since she knew where they planned to go at least, but still...

"You all right, kid?" Clementine looked up at Pete who was now standing next to her. It was then that she noticed that she was frowning. The eleven-year-old chose to stay silent. Pete knelt down in front of her. "Gotta have more faith than that. He came back, didn't he?" The older man glanced over at Sophia. "And he found good people too."

Clementine looked down at her knees. "Maybe," she whispered in response. Pete was silent for a moment before getting up and walking away.

The little girl tightened her hold as she thought. _"He might be right-"_ She then turned her head to look at the bridge. _"-but anything can happen."_ Images of Lee started going through her head. From when he found her at her house, to the motor inn, then the St. Johns... After that, everyone she ever knew either died or were left behind. Lee hit her the hardest since he treated her like his own daughter. Ever since the cannibals, she treated Lee like the father-figure he was trying to be for her. He taught her to shoot a gun, keep her hair short, and the most important lesson was his last. _**"Don't be afraid."**_

Clementine hid her head in her arms whilst trying not to cry. A few seconds go by before she feels something poking her right arm. She looked up to see Sophia staring at her. They stared at each other for a moment. The older of the two started to smile a little bit. "You're cute, you know." She said silently.

 _"Maybe this time, things'll get better. Maybe..."_ Her smile fell for a couple of seconds before turning back to a smile. "Don't be afraid." She said to herself silently.

* * *

 **When I made my decision to start writing, I wanted to be someone that can finish the story. Not leave it behind. I'm sure at least most of you can agree. When you start reading a story that peaked your interest so much that you want to see how it ends, and when the people writing these incredible stories just stop, it leaves me feeling either sad or annoyed.**

 **I get it. Life gets in your way so much that you have to leave things unfinished. Even if you enjoyed doing it. Maybe you just give up because it makes you feel overwhelmed, or bored of your own story. Or it's because you're not getting anything out of it.**

 **I feel like I've lost interest for a while. I always read, but I barely wrote a few sentences before I get up and walk away. I've been working on this chapter since I posted the last one. Until a couple of weeks ago. When I just gave up on it entirely.**

 **Telltale announced they were shutting down. I was scared of what fate had in store for Clementine's root story. That same day is when I started to write again.**

 **I'm glad other people are stepping forward to finish what they started. Clementine "Doesn't feel hurt" anymore (Had to :)**

 **I'm going to do my best to finish this story. I'm sorry it took me a while to come back to this. See y'all soon!**


	12. Chapter 12

**_(Flashback)_**

 **It's been at least four months since the world changed. Kay had to be the one who took care of everyone since the church. They were on the road most of the time until they discovered a group of seven survivors in Arlington.**

 **This group had their fair share of losses like anyone else in this short amount of time. Kay was sure the world died ever since the tragedy that costed the life of most of her direct family. Isaac was kept away from most of it, so he only took care of Sophia whenever his mother was away. He knows about the walkers' existence and to stay away from them, but that's it.**

 **Her father, however, decided to fight any walker he saw. She thought it was a miracle that he didn't die already. With his reckless behavior, plus the bat he found in a house, well, he was lucky as hell to not find himself in a herd.**

 **Kay was driving back to their home for the last month and a half. An elementary school that had the name covered with a banner that said "Rebuilding Humanity" that covered the actual name of the school. She figured out from one of the survivors, Jessie, a redheaded twenty-one-year-old woman, that the name was Burgin Elementary.**

 **Kay had to drive out to the town for supplies with a man named Francis. He was originally a teacher at the school. He managed to save a few children in his class. Francis sat in the passenger seat with a pack of supplies on his lap.**

 **"I hate to ask this, but how's he doing?" Francis spoke up they took a left turn into a neighborhood. Kay didn't say anything. The teacher thought about dropping it before she responded. "He's... getting better, at least... I hope so." The teacher turned his head to look at her. She had a solemn look as she kept her eyes on the road.**

 **Francis was silent for a moment. "What were you doing? You know, before the dead rose," he asked in an attempt to change the subject.**

 **"I was a nurse back in Ohio." Francis smiled at that. "That would explain your expertise at patching people up." He let out a small laugh.** **When he looked back at her, he was surprised to see an almost angry glare in her eyes. "Did you hate being one?" he asked.**

 **"Loved it to death. It just reminded me of..." She trailed off, not wanting to mention her ex-husband.**

 **Francis grew curious, but he dropped the subject. "What about Isaac?" When she stayed silent, he spoke again. "You know, keeping him away from everything won't help in his survival." She was silent again.**

 **"Joel's been doing an archery class recently. Perhaps he could join in. If you want him to." Francis didn't hear a reply so he decided to be quiet as well. They got to the end of the neighborhood. Kay turned onto the car-littered road that the school was on.**

 **Francis was surprised when the woman decided to speak up. "Jessie's been saying the same thing to me." The teacher turned to look at the nurse. "Maybe it's not such a bad idea," she added. Francis smiled. "He's a smart kid. He can do this." Kay smiled at that. "I know." A few seconds after, she saw the school coming into view.**

 **It was only about three minutes after that when the car pulled into the half-empty parking lot in front of the school.**

 ** _(Flashback end)_**

 **(With Isaac)**

The two males have crept along the left side of the bridge. Isaac pointed in the direction of two potential walkers ahead of them. Luke nodded and kept going forward. As soon as they got within a yard away from the cart, one of the bodies rose its head with a snarl, alerting the other one. One was using its arms to pull itself towards them while the other got to its feet.

Luke stopped moving and rose his arm to block Isaac from going any further. The young man watched them for a moment before the child said in a hushed voice. "There's another one." Luke turned around to see another one walking towards them from where they were a minute before.

The man turned to look at the other two. "Fuckin' hell." he then turned back in Isaac's direction to see he was already walking towards the lone walker with his knife raised.

Luke turned for the fourth time to face the pair of dead people. They weren't too close together, so he took care of the closer one with one swing of his machete. He then faced the other as it got to its feet as well. He then took a step towards it. He didn't realize that he stepped on one of the damper planks before he fell through.

Isaac used his left leg to kick the walkers' out. As he plunged the weapon in his hand through its temple, he heard a shout from behind. He turned around just in time to see a flash of Luke's hand as it disappeared.

"LUKE!" he shouted as he ran over to the hole the man fell through. As he ran over, he heard Luke call out. "I'm alright!"

Isaac looked down to see Luke trying to keep himself from falling off the metal that he was lucky enough to land on. Before Isaac could say anything, he shot his head up to the sound of a snarling walker. Isaac narrowed his eyes and started to back away slowly.

"Over here! Got a knife with your name on it!" The boy clapped his hands in an attempt to draw the attention of what used to be a man, away from Luke. The dead body started to limp towards him with a gurgled shout.

"Just a little more..." Isaac muttered as he took a few more steps back. When the monster was far enough away from the hole, the boy stalked towards it. Within a few seconds, he kicked out the man's leg, letting its body fall down with a thud and plunged his weapon through its skull before it could even move.

He pulled the knife out in a hurry and ran over to the hole to see that Luke was still there, keeping himself from falling by holding the metal bar to his right in a death grip. "I'll find something to help."

"That would be nice," Luke responded with a sigh. Isaac looked up to see Luke's machete next to a metal pipe. He ran over, picked up the piece of metal, and handed it to Luke. The man then used it as a foothold to get back up.

After taking a few seconds to breathe, he got to his feet and saw the two walkers that Isaac killed. "Damn..." Luke said before shaking his head. He turned around to see Isaac walking over to him with his machete. Luke took it from Isaac when it was handed back to him. Luke nodded his head in silent gratitude.

The man scanned the bridge behind Isaac for a moment. "Let's keep moving," he said. Isaac nodded before they continued crossing the bridge.

They walked in silence for at least a minute before Luke noticed the figure of a person coming towards them from the other side. Luke put his arm up in front of Isaac, who didn't notice until he bumped into it. Isaac looked up and saw the figure.

"Familiar?" Isaac quietly asked as he watched the person get closer.

"No. He isn't." Luke answered. "Just play it cool. And you do the talking."

Isaac looked up at him. "Why me?"

"'Cause I don't want to get in a fight. You really think he'd shoot a kid?" Luke looked down at Isaac as he said this.

"Hopefully, he won't." the boy responded before taking a couple of steps forward. At the same time, the man stopped in his tracks. Isaac noticed the rifle the man was carrying and thought it looked almost identical to the ones the group had.

The three of them stared each other down, Luke going into a crouched position, while Isaac kept his arms on his sides so he wasn't seen as a threat. It took a few seconds before the unnamed man spoke. "Well, who are you?"

"Well, who's askin'?" Luke said in a defensive tone.

"I am." the man answered.

"You go first," Isaac said. He was taught by his mom to never say your name first. He only did that once before, and it ended with him and mom leaving the school after surviving an attack from a different group.

The man was silent for a few seconds. "Matthew." the man said. "Your turn," he added.

"Isaac." the boy said in response. "Luke." Luke shouted after a few seconds.

"Isaac and Luke." Matthew repeated. They watched Matthew as he started to walk towards them once again. He stopped when he was a few yards away from them. Luke straightened himself out.

"Huh. You don't look like assholes. Are you assholes?" Matthew questioned. "No offense or anything. But you know how it is out here. You run into a lot of assholes."

"We're just people," Isaac answered.

"Fair enough," Matthew said. He then started to walk towards them. "You folks headed north like everyone else?" he asked out of curiosity.

"Everyone else?" Luke repeated. Matthew nodded head as he stopped right in front of them. "I see at least one group a day move through here. You all look the same. It's like a great migration of the dazed and confused." Matthew explained.

"You know a guy named Carver?" Isaac asked with a saddened expression.

"Carver? Like George Washington Carver? The peanut guy?"

Isaac shook his head no. "No. But I miss having peanut butter though." Matthew nodded his head with a small smile on his face. "Same here," he said. "I gotta say, you two look like shit. If you need some food, I've got some canned stuff in the station back there." Matthew offered, turning his head around for a second to look at the small structure behind him.

Luke narrowed his eyes at him and placed his hands on his hips. "Well, that's uh... awful nice of you. What's the catch?" he asked.

"No catch. I've got plenty." Matthew answered kindly. Isaac smiled at his kindness.

Luke let a smile appear on his face as well. "Well all right, then. Thank you."

"Hey, no problem. Nice running into friendly faces out here." his eyes went to Isaac as he said that. He looked back at Luke. "Like I said, I've got food and supplies back in the station. And if you want..." Matthew trailed off as he saw two men with rifles running towards them. His eyes widened. "What the fuck, man," he said.

Luke and Isaac turned around to see Nick running towards them with a rifle in his hands. They can also see Pete running after his nephew a few yards behind him. "What the hell is he doing?" Luke questioned.

When he got to the cart, Nick rose his rifle, aiming it at Matthew. Matthew did the same in response to this action with narrowed eyes. Luke turned around with his hands raised. "No, no, no, no! He's wi- he's with us!" Luke told Matthew. The hoodie-wearing man looked at him for a split second before focusing on Nick.

Isaac glared at Nick as he reached behind his back. He pulled the pistol he had hidden on his waist and pointed it at Nick, who took notice of it immediately. They were silently staring each other down until Pete caught up to his nephew a few tense moments later.

Pete's eyes went from Nick to Isaac, pointing a gun at Nick. He then saw Matthew who also had his rifle up, aiming at his nephew as well. He turned to Nick. "Put it down, Nick." Nick turned to his uncle with wide eyes. "What?! He's about to shoot!" Pete narrowed his eyes. "Put. It. Down." Pete said slowly.

Nick's eyes shot down towards the ground before lowering his weapon.

Pete watched his nephew for a couple of seconds. "I'll stay here. Go and get everyone else, alright?"

Nick silently nodded his head before turning around to do as he was told.

As soon as Nick lowered his weapon, Luke let out a sigh of relief. He turned to look at Isaac as the child conceal his pistol behind his shirt.

Matthew lowered his weapon as well. "Shit, man. That could've ended badly," he said while trying to shake off the tense feeling the group was now under.

Luke turned to him. " I'm sorry 'bout him. We've just been having a tough time recently," he explained.

"I hear you," Matthew said in response. Luke looked down at his feet in guilt.

At that moment, Pete caught up to them. He shot a slight glare at Matthew for a moment before looking at Luke. "You alright? Looked like you were held up." Pete asked Luke.

"We weren't being held up. He was actually offering us some food and supplies." Luke told the older man.

Pete closed his eyes and sighed. "I'm trustin' your judgment." He then turned his head to see Isaac as he glared at the ground.

"How many more of you are back there?" Matthew questioned, making Pete turn to face the Asian man. "Three children, and four adults," he answered him.

Matthew nodded his head, accepting Pete's answer. "I don't have enough to give you here. We can talk about it when the rest of your group catch up." Matthew turned his head towards the small building behind him. "For now, we'll wait there."

"Alright," Luke said with a shrug of his shoulders. Luke went to follow Matthew. Pete was about to do the same but turned to look at the child walking behind him. "You gonna be alright, Isaac?" The boy stared at the man's back, not willing to look at his face. "I don't know..." Pete stared at the child for a few seconds before silently going after the two men with Isaac right behind him.


End file.
